Like Always
by TJ6
Summary: They dated, like boys and girls always do. They broke up, like boys and girls always do. They got back together? They would break the rules...
1. This Never Happens

_Alright, it's been a while since I've written, or posted anything. I'm a serial starter and not quite finisher... I've never written a Glee fic, but I'm shipping Puckleberry so hardcore that I had to try my hand at it. Be nice! Please? And know that I own nothing Glee, except the soundtrack. If I did, screw Rachel, Puck would be mine!_

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**This Never Happens**

Rachel hurried quickly down the hallway, like she always did. As she turned the corner people stopped and started whispering, like they always did. The only difference was that today she didn't hear it. All she heard was the sound of her own heartbeat. Today she didn't feel the sting of their petty insults. She could only feel the cold sting in her fingers as her hand started to go numb.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was alone at his locker. When she finally reached him she cleared her throat. When he didn't turn around she poked him impatiently in the shoulder.

Puck turned around to a very determined Rachel Berry poking him incessantly in the back. He raised an eyebrow as she thrust a slushie at him.

"Here" She said nervously. He didn't say anything as he took the drink.

Rachel closed her eyes; this was when her plan either worked or backfired horribly. After about a minute, which felt more like hours, she opened her eyes. He was still standing there, holding the slushie suspiciously, just staring. When he made no move to throw it at her Rachel began to ramble, like she always did.

"It's cherry. I figured that that was your favourite, because that's the kind you always bought before you figured out that grape was my favourite, which it is, by the way."

"Take a breath, Berry." Puck drawled. His one eyebrow was still raised, as he had no idea why Rachel Berry would do a ridiculous thing like give _him _a slushie.

"Right. Well, I thought about what you said the other day." Puck looked at her blankly. "You know. On the bleachers?"

Puck's vaguely curious expression became cold. "As I recall, you did most of the talking when we were on the bleachers."

Rachel dropped her gaze and began to play with the hem of her yellow blouse. "Yes, well you're the one who said we weren't friends."

Puck studied the petite brunette wearily. "Berry-"

"You were right."

"I was right…" he repeated slowly.

Rachel nodded. "You were right. We weren't friends before. I mean we have mutual friends, like Finn, and the common interest of glee, but you and I were never friends. But I was thinking we could be."

"You and me-"

"I." Rachel corrected.

Puck rolled his eyes. "You and I. Friends." The diva nodded again, the determined look back in her eyes. "Not gonna happen."

"But-"

Puck shook his head and cut her off. "Look Berry, you were right too; when we were on the bleachers."

"I was?"

This time Puck nodded. "I wasn't gonna break up with you."

"Noah-"

"But that's all you were right about."

"What are you talking about?"

"You said I wasn't gonna break up with you." She nodded "You were right about that. You said I was in love with Quinn. You were wrong about that. I'm not in love with Quinn Fabray, I've never been in love with Quinn Fabray, and I never will be in love with Quinn Fabray. She's a bitch."

"But-"

Puck held up a hand, cutting her off again. "And you said you were in love with Finn. You're wrong about that too."

"I-"

"Finn's a nice guy. I get it, the guy's my best friend, of course I get it. I'm even manly enough to admit that maybe he's good looking if you're into that whole wide eyed puppy kind of thing, but you're not in love with him."

"Who do you think you are, Noah Puckerman? Telling me how I feel… I-" Rachel was cut off for the umpteenth time as Puck backed her up against the lockers.

He wasn't touching her, but she could feel the heat of him seeping into her. He was leaning down slightly so she could look him in the eye. Why had she never noticed that his eyes were more green than hazel? His mouth was moving. His beautiful mouth. The mouth that had done wicked things to her. Things that still made her shiver.

"Rachel?"

"Huh?"

Puck smirked slightly, like he always did, and repeated himself. "You're Rachel Berry. You have dreams and goals and plans and lists. You're bigger than this two-bit town. You're going to be a star, no matter what anyone says. Just wait and see."

Rachel frowned uncertainly as Puck summarized her 'I'm going to be a star' speech. "I don't see what that has to do with Finn."

"Does he ever make you forget?"

"What?"

Puck grabbed a lock of Rachel's hair and let the silky strand slide through his fingers. "Does he ever make you forget that you have all these plans and lists- just for a second?" All Rachel could do was stare. His mouth was weaving a spell over her again. "Does he challenge you?" Puck leaned closer- all she could smell was oranges and motor oil and something just him… His lips were less than an inch from her ear. His breath was hot against her skin. Her heart was jackhammering inside her chest. She had to remind herself to breathe. "When he kisses you, and I know he has, does he make you burn? Do you forget your own name?"

"Noah…" His name was a whimper, she couldn't catch her breath.

"That's my name," Puck settled his hand on her hip and grinned when he felt the muscles clench under his touch, "what's your name?"

Rachel gasped, his thumb was rubbing slow circles against her skin, just above the waistband of her skirt, and- oh God- was that his tongue against her ear? What did he ask her?

Puck groaned and kissed the pulse point just beneath her ear. Her hands were tangled in his shirt, pulling him closer… She was pressing herself into the hard thigh he'd wedged between her thighs… Her hair smelled like mangoes or papayas- some exotic fruit that made him lose his mind… Everytime he kissed her neck she made the sexiest goddamn sound in the back of her throat and pulled him just a little bit closer… What was his point again?

"Noah-"

Oh yeah. "You're not in love with Finn, Berry." Puck slammed his locker shut, skirted around the red puddle that used to be a cherry slushie and was on his way to the gym before she could open her eyes. He didn't have gym this period, but screw English class, he needed a cold fucking shower. Now.

When Rachel did manage to open her eyes she found herself looking into the confused gaze of Kurt Hummel. "What the hell was that?"

"I- what?"

"You told me you broke up with Puck."

"I did."

"Then why were you two practically having sex in the hallway 10 seconds ago?"

"Huh?"

Kurt fanned himself dramatically with his hand. "I mean damn, Rach!"

"Rachel!" The brunette exclaimed triumphantly, her eyes finally losing the glazed over look. She glanced around in confusion. "Kurt? Where did Noah go?"

"He-" Kurt was cut off by the bell.

"Oh my gosh! I'm going to be late for class! See you at lunch!"

Kurt stared in amusement as Rachel hurried in the wrong direction. Then seeing the empty slushie cup in the puddle of red he smirked and whipped out his cell phone. This kind of thing _never _happened. He had to tell Mercedes.


	2. Always Have Their Backs

_Holy crap. Thanks guys! I've never had a response like this before. Ever. Definitely made me want to post this ASAP, because I just discovered something. Reviews = something close to the feeling I get everytime I see/hear Mark Salling sing Sweet Caroline. :) Gleeks for life! PS- I made up Brittany's last name and history obviously, if her last name comes out in the future sorry in advance. PPS- Sorry there's no Puckleberry in this chapter, there will definitely be more. Count on it. Points for anyone who knows where the names Heather and Amber come from... I am such a geek. :)_

**CHAPTER TWO:**

**Always Have Their Backs**

Brittany Wright stared at herself in the mirror. She was blonde, blue eyed, tall. Pretty. Not perfect and angelic like her best friend Quinn or exotic and sultry like her other best friend Santana, but definitely pretty. Looking down she smiled. She, for sure, had great legs. But that stuff wasn't really important, was it? She stared into the eyes of her reflection.

She was a good person, right?

Her mom told her she was. Her little sisters Marin, Hanna, and Sonya loved her and looked up to her. Her dad had always told her she was a 'good for nothing, brainless fucking twit'. She frowned slightly at the thought of him. Was she still a good person if she was glad that her dad was in jail?

Mike told her she was. Brittany's smile returned as she thought of the Asian football player. He was sweet and when he smiled at her, the smile that reached his eyes and gave him the cutest dimple in his left cheek, she felt like she was. But then Santana or Quinn would say something mean and she would laugh with them, because they told her to, and that smile wouldn't reach his eyes anymore.

Her friends… What about her friends? Quinn and Santana were always yelling at her. Sure they had good times, like when they were shopping or whispering about boys and stuff, but sometimes, she thought, they looked at her the way her dad did when he called her a twit. The other Cheerios were alright…

She pretended to be busy doing her makeup when two of the aforementioned Cheerios came into the washroom, giggling. Heather and Amber, ugh. "Hi Brit!" Amber, the red head, said brightly, noticing the left hand of Quinn Fabray. But her smile was fake, like always.

"Hi." Brittany smiled, but it wasn't real either. Heather and Amber had the same mean look hidden in their eyes that her dad did.

"Did you hear?" Heather asked.

"Hear what?"

"The hockey team slushied man hands." The blonde laughed. "There were like 10 of them. It was great."

Brittany frowned. Rachel never had the mean look. Sure, sometimes she was a little crazy, but she was always nice, even after people did mean things to her. All the glee kids were nice, actually. Nicer than the Cheerios. "I thought we weren't allowed to slushie Rachel anymore."

"That's when she was dating Puck." Amber said, reapplying her lipgloss.

Brittany's frown deepened as the two Cheerios left- she was kind of glad Amber's lipgloss clashed with her hair. That's when she decided. She'd rather be in glee than on the Cheerios. She liked the way Rachel and the other glee kids looked at her with no judgment in their eyes. And she definitely liked the way Mike's good smile made her feel all warm and gooey inside.

She had to find Rachel.

* * *

Rachel Lea Berry wasn't going to cry.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her carefully chosen outfit- a pale yellow blouse, a soft dove gray skirt, yellow and gray plaid knee highs and cute yellow ballet flats- was absolutely ruined. It was stuck to her skin, the rainbow of slushies turning each article of clothing a disgusting brown, sticky, mess. Her hair, which had been meticulously straightened, was plastered to her face and starting to curl wildly. Since she had started dating Noah the previous week she had stopped bringing a change of clothes to school- after he received his first slushie facial there had been a mysterious lack of them- she smiled faintly at the thought. So now she was screwed. She had nothing to change into at school and she couldn't get into her car like this… It would ruin the upholstery and she'd never told her dads the extent of the bullying she endured. She couldn't let them get to her. She wasn't going to cry.

The first sob escaped as Brittany Wright flew into the washroom. She tried to hold it in, really she did, but when Brittany's hand covered her mouth- not quite stifling her gasp, she just broke down. "Oh, Rachel!" She shook her head and tried to stop when the blonde cheerleader gathered her in her arms and gave her a hug, but she couldn't.

"Brit," she hiccupped, "your uniform."

"Screw the uniform." Brittany said quickly. "Are you okay?" The tiny brunette just shook her head and continued to sob. Deep, gut wrenching sobs that made Brittany's insides clench up and her eyes harden. "It wasn't just hockey players that did this, was it?"

Rachel shook her head again. "No." The whispered confession was barely audible.

"Who?"

"There were a few Cheerios, some football players, and a few guys from the baseball team, I think."

Brittany closed her eyes and hugged Rachel tighter. "Santana and Quinn?"

"No."

The blonde let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding and smiled. "Okay. First things first, we need to call Kurt and Santana."

"Santana?" Rachel asked quickly, backing out of Brit's arms. "Why?"

"Because my clothes will be way too long on you, silly. Hers will probably fit."

"Santana's not going to lend me her clothes." Rachel said plainly.

"Yes she will." The blonde replied, her eyes narrowing in determination. "Now, you call Kurt, I'll call San and we'll get this all sorted out."

* * *

"Brit?" Santana called out, breezing into the girls' room. "Jesus!" She swore when she caught sight of the front of Brittany's uniform. "Did you get slushied? What the hell? When Coach Sylvester finds out-"

Brittany glared at the Latina "Of course I didn't. Does it really look like I got slushied?"

Santana unconsciously took a step backwards. Brittany never snapped at her. "Then what-" The blonde gestured toward Rachel, who was being fussed over by Kurt, and Mercedes. Santana took in the sight, but didn't say anything; there was the slightest glint of satisfaction in her eyes. "That's why you made me bring my extra clothes? I'm not letting RuPaul wear my stuff."

Brittany's eyes flashed fire as the glee kids went silent and Rachel let a few more tears fall at the hurtful name. "Her name is Rachel, Santana."

"Excuse me?"

"Her name is Rachel. Not RuPaul, or man hands, or gleek or anything else. It's Rachel. You _will_ let her borrow your clothes. You _will_ apologize and you will _never_ be a part of another slushie facial again. _Ever_. Or so help me God, I will bitch slap you so hard you'll forget your own name."

Kurt coughed to cover his laughter, remembering Rachel's little incident earlier in the day.

Mercedes whistled "Damn Brit. When'd you grow them balls?"

Brittany silently held out her hand, waiting for Santana to give her the spare clothes. The shocked cheerleader did as ordered, handing over her spare clothes and Brittany's own spare set. She started to leave the washroom when Brit cleared her throat. "Uh, San?"

Santana looked back at her friend who gestured to Rachel again. "Oh right. Sorry you got slushied Ru- Rachel."

The blonde sighed as her friend quickly left. "Sorry Rach, guess that's as good as it's gonna get." Everyone looked at Brittany in shock. "What? Do I have something on my face?" She spun around to look at herself in the mirror. "Shit! Do you think this stuff is gonna come out of my uniform?"

Rachel laughed and pulled the blonde into a hug. "Yeah Brit. I know a great drycleaner. I'll get you a discount."

* * *

"San?" Matt called out his girlfriend's name. "Santana?"

"What? Oh, hey babe." She allowed Matt to give her a kiss on the cheek, before retreating back into her pensive state.

Matt traded glances with Mike and Puck, both of whom just shrugged. "What's up San?"

"Brittany just yelled at me." She announced quietly.

"She did?" Mike asked perking up, until Matt shot him a withering glare.

"Yeah." She responded, not even noticing the boys' exchange. "Then she made me give man han- Rachel my spare clothes."

At the mention of Rachel's name Puck tuned into the conversation. "Why did Ra- Berry need your clothes?"

Santana looked up; Puck hadn't spoken a word to her since she'd broken up with him. "She got slushied. Like epic slushied. Worse than Quinn and Finn."

"Who?" All three looked at Puck in shock. There was no trace of a smirk on his face or in his voice. In fact, he was almost completely emotionless. Santana shivered when she saw the ice in his eyes.

"I'm not sure." She answered truthfully, clinging to Matt.

"Were you in on it?" he asked frostily.

"No." She shook her head.

"Quinn?"

She shook her head again. "She would have told me."

Puck nodded. "You'd better not be lying to me Lopez." She pressed herself into Matt a little more. Then Puck looked at his two friends. "You guys in?"

Matt kissed Santana's forehead and nodded. Mike grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Hell yeah!"

"What are you guys doing?" Santana asked her boyfriend left her side to follow his friends. "Where are you going? Matthew Rutherford!"

Matt looked back at the disgruntled cheerleader. "Sorry babe. We're a team now. You always gotta have your team's backs."

Santana watched as the three football players disappeared around the corner before sprinting back towards the washroom. "Brittany! Rachel!"


	3. Expect the Unexpected

_Alright, chapter 3. Thanks so much for the reviews! Keep 'em coming. :) A lot of you have actually commented on my writing style, all I can say is phew! I'm trying a little something new, changing the style for each character. ie Puck's brutally honest, Brittany's optimistic, Santana's sarcastic... you get the picture. Happy reading, friends!_

**CHAPTER THREE:**

**Expect the Unexpected**

"San?" Brittany asked, stepping out of a stall. She'd replaced her Cheerios uniform with a pair of jeans, a Kings of Leon concert tee, and a pair of bright red flats. Everyone except Santana gave the blonde a double take; it was weird to see one of the Cheerios without their armor on.

Rachel stepped out of the stall beside Brittany's, curious as to why the dark haired girl- who moments ago could barely stammer out an apology to her- was screaming her name, her real name at that.

This time it was Santana who had to look twice. She'd seen the clothes before, they were hers for God's sake, but Rachel did more for them than she ever had. Rachel didn't have the biggest chest, but the tight purple tank top made her waist look _tiny_. Everyone knew from the short skirts she wore that the girl had legs, but who knew she had an ass like that? Even Kurt had to admire the things the gray skinny jeans did for the diva's posterior. Speaking of Cinderfella, Santana had to give it up for him; Berry's hair, usually straight as a very boring pin, was in a high ponytail with just the right amount of softly curling tendrils framing her face.

"Hot damn, girl." Mercedes whistled.

Kurt buffed his nails on his Marc Jacob's shirt. "I am a genius."

Santana rolled her eyes "They're _my_ clothes, gay-tard." She grinned at him slightly to let him know the name wasn't meant as an insult, but as a term of endearment, then let her face go passive again. "You might as well keep the jeans, Berry, that way you won't have to wash them or whatever."

Brittany squealed and hugged Santana. "She means you look really pretty Rach."

The Cheerio rolled her eyes again and pretended to examine her bright red fingernails. "Whatever. My papi will buy me some new ones anyway." But she couldn't help but smile at Brittany, glad that whatever stick had gotten up her ass seemed to have disappeared.

"My dads don't think jeans are appropriate attire for school. When I went to the academy-"

"Whatever Rach," Kurt interrupted "Now that we know you have a hot ass we're definitely going on a shopping trip." Mercedes laughed and gave Kurt a high five in approval.

"But-"

"Oh!" Brittany squealed again, "I want to come!"

"Of course you're coming Barbie." Mercedes said- as if they had been best friends their whole lives and it would be ludicrous to think otherwise.

"I'm getting really tired of being interrupted today." Rachel announced, stamping her foot on the ground in her usual diva fashion.

"Rach-"

"Santana!" Rachel all but screamed, cutting Kurt off, "Why'd you come back?"

"Shit!" Santana swore. The sight of Rachel Berry looking like a real person had thrown her off, but now the bitch was back. "Puck heard what happened to you." All fun and games were forgotten when Santana announced that juicy little tidbit. "He, Mike, and Matt have gone to rectify the situation or whatever. Stupid fucking _boys_." She muttered "If Matt messes up his face I will absolutely murder him. Then I'll go after Puck."

"Mike?" Brittany asked. "My Mike?" Santana nodded. Then they all turned to Rachel. She had gone stock still at the news. "Rach?" Brit asked tentatively.

The sound of her name seemed to break Rachel out of her trance. She looked around blindly for a second then she bolted out the door. Brittany and Santana looked at each other before following a split second later.

Kurt looked over at Mercedes. "I hate running. Piggyback?"

The black girl snorted "Let's go princess." Then the two fashionistas followed the others quickly, not wanting to miss the action.

* * *

Puck sauntered onto the football field; Mike and Matt right behind him, the only sign that something was wrong was his tightly clenched jaw and the tense set of his shoulders. His eyes narrowed when he spotted David Karofsky and a few of his mindless friends laughing with Mark Sarafi and Riley Morrison from the baseball team and some of the guys from _his_ football team. Mike and Matt exchanged worried glances, suddenly regretting the fact that they'd agreed to follow Puck's lead.

Finn spotted his friends from across the field and jogged up to them, smiling his usual amiable half smile. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Mike, a little surprised that Finn couldn't pick up the murderous vibes coming off his best friend, grinned and cracked his knuckles again. "We're going to have a little party with Karofsky and his band of Neanderthals."

Finn, who may not have understood all the words- especially Neanderthal, what was that? Some kind of hockey thing?- definitely understood the sentiment. His half grin was a little less adorable now, and a lot more bloodthirsty. "I've been wanting to talk to Karofsky about a little slushie facial he gave me for awhile now."

Puck turned on his friend and bared his teeth. "Karofsky's mine." He snarled.

"Yeah, but-"

Puck stared into Finn's eyes, "Karofsky. Is. Mine." His voice was completely free of emotion and for a second Finn was absolutely terrified.

"Yeah. Okay, man."

Puck nodded and turned his gaze back on the little throng of future dead men. "Play along and keep your mouth shut. Got it?"

"Yeah."

The mohawked football player looked at all three of his friends one last time. "I mean it. Keep your goddamned mouths shut." Then he continued towards Karofsky, 100 percent sure that he'd been the one to orchestrate the attack on Rachel.

"Puck!" One of the laughing football players called out when he saw the four walking towards them. "Man, where were you?"

"Why?" Puck asked his voice was strained, but no one really noticed. "What happened?"

"We gave that Berry freak a fucking slushie shower!"

"Yeah, dude, you should have seen her face!"

Mike laid a hand on Finn's arm, as the clueless quarterback was about to say something. "You got something to say about your girlfriend, Hudson?" Karofsky sneered.

"No." Puck answered for Finn, his voice deadly calm. "But _I_ was wondering. Who planned this fun little event?"

Karofsky crossed his arms over his chest smugly as his friends started to go quiet. "Why, Puckerman? Mad you missed out on the action?"

"Of course," one of the guys called out- Morrison, Puck noted "you know Puck hates to miss out on any _action_."

"You got a pool, Morrison?" The baseball player shook his head. "A hot tub?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason." Puck shrugged "Say hi to your mom for me, will you?" When all the guys stopped laughing Puck directed his stare back to Karofsky. "So who really came up with the slushie shower? I know it wasn't you Karofsky, been hit in the head with a few too many pucks to come up with something as good as this…" This time there was no jeering or laughter.

"Jealous, Puckerman?" Karofsky asked "You should be. The angle I was at… Who knew the gleek freak was packing such a tight little body?"

That's when he snapped.

* * *

Rachel and the others reached the football field as the fight broke out. "Oh God…" the brunette moaned. She touched her jaw as she watched Noah get hit in the same spot and then get tackled by David Karofsky. "Kurt! Go get a teacher!"

The former kicker looked away from his phone, which was recording every juicy detail. "But I don't want to miss-"

"So help me Kurt, if you don't get your ass in the fucking school right now and get a fucking teacher I will make _goddamn sure_ that you are the girl in every relationship you ever have."

Kurt handed his phone to Mercedes and ran for the school as fast as his Gucci shoes could take him. And if the girls hadn't been so impressed by Rachel's threat they would have laughed at the way he covered his junk the whole way.

"What do we do?" Santana asked, too afraid of Rachel to cheer for Matt, who had just taken down Chris Mays- the creepy hockey player who had touched her ass once.

Rachel glared as Karofsky kicked out Noah's knee. "I'm going to go fucking kill that son of a bitch!"

"Woah, tiger." Mercedes commented as Brittany and Santana held her back.

"Mercedes, point that camera away from me. Brittany, Santana let me go. I know what I'm doing. I swear."

"Rach-" Mercedes let out a sigh of relief as Kurt burst out of the school with Mr. Shue, Coach Tanaka, and Coach Sylvester right behind him.

"Oh thank God. " Brittany breathed "Coach Sylvester will get this under control."

Mercedes laughed and filmed as, true to Brittany's prediction, Mr. Shue and Coach Tanaka stood helplessly yelling from the sidelines of the fight and Coach Sylvester got right in the thick of things and started busting heads. Then she swore as the Cheerios loosened their grip and Rachel ran towards the fight.

"Berry!" Santana yelled "What the fuck?"

"Language Lopez!" Coach Sylvester yelled from the middle of the fight, where she was forcibly separating Mike and one of the other football players.

Mercedes couldn't help but laugh again. This whole thing was fucking absurd.

* * *

Rachel had stopped running and was calmly approaching the remains of the fight. "Get out of here, Twinkle Toes." Coach Sylvester said in her monotonous voice.

"Of course Coach," Rachel said sweetly "I just have to do one thing first."

"What-"

Puck looked at Rachel and held a hand out towards her- she was clenching and unclenching her fists, which were trembling, and her eyes were bright, "Rach, baby, please don't cry. Everything's fine. I'm okay."

Rachel refused to look at him. "Everything is _not_ fine!" she screamed, marching up to David Karofsky.

"Berry!" Santana warned, recognizing the look in Rachel's eye.

Rachel took a deep breath and punched Karofsky as hard as she could. "You are an asshole."


	4. Always Keep Your Thumb Out

_So I bumped up the rating on my story to M. It doesn't get to that point in this chapter, but it may in the future... Everyone seems to enjoy themselves a little steamy Puckleberry action, so I might have to give it a go. :) And to anyone who said something about the names that I've come up with so far, you're right. Cookies for everyone!_

**CHAPTER FOUR:**

**Always Keep Your Thumb Out**

"Sweet baby Jesus, Broadway," Coach Sylvester said, the tiniest of grins turning up the corners of her mouth, "you punched him right in the throat."

"I couldn't reach his hideous face." Rachel replied imperiously.

Kurt, Mercedes, Brittany and Santana were looking at Rachel with smiles on their faces. Mike and Matt were laughing and cheering her on, much to the distress of Coach Tanaka- who was telling them vehemently to shut the hell up. Finn and Mr. Shue were looking at her like they'd never seen her before in their entire lives. And Puck was just staring.

Rachel took in Noah's injuries as she walked towards him. He was cradling his left arm against his side, it didn't appear to be broken, but one never could tell… From the way he was hunched over it looked like he'd at the very least cracked a few ribs, not to mention the busted lip, the black eye and the scrapes and bruises all over his face.

"Rachel that was the hottest fucking thing I have ever seen."

"Puck!" Mr. Shue reprimanded the football player.

Rachel smiled as she reached her injured- her injured what? He wasn't really her boyfriend at this point, although he had called her 'baby' in his attempt to placate her, surely that meant something… She smiled as she reached her injured Noah. That's right, _hers_, back off Cheerios. Then she punched him in the stomach.

"Dammit Rach! I think my ribs are broken!"

"Serves you right, you idiot!" Rachel ranted "What were you thinking? This is the most barbaric, brutish, _stupid_ thing I have ever seen!"

Then she kissed him. Not the sweet, innocent, 'thank you, you're my hero' kind of kiss most of them were expecting of Rachel Berry either. It was a 'that was the hottest thing I've ever seen, if you don't let me rip off your clothes and take you right here I might die' kind of kiss that almost made Mercedes want to cover the camera lens. Almost. Rachel and Puck were plastered together so close you couldn't tell where one stopped and the other started. Her hands were tangled in his mohawk while he, mindless of his injuries, was trying to pull her up his body with the hand he had planted on her ass and was inching her shirt up with the other hand.

Mr. Shue and Coach Tanaka were yelling at the two to stop, still weary of wading into the sea of injured jocks. While Coach Sylvester had planted her foot on Karofsky's back, pinning him to the ground. "If you think you're getting away from this, worm, think again. Now quit squirming like a slutty cheerleader on prom night and take that throat punch like a man." She nodded to Santana and Brittany who turned away from their respective boyfriends to look at her after the 'slutty cheerleader' comment. "Girls."

Rachel and Puck only sprang apart when Finn let out a strangled gasp. "Rachel, do you have a tattoo?"

* * *

All the kids stood on the 50 yard line as Coach Sylvester explained the story to Principal Figgins, except Puck, who was busy trying to lift the back of Rachel's shirt to catch a glimpse of her tattoo. "Noah!" she whispered, batting his hand away, again. "Stop it!"

"But everyone else got to see." He whined. She glared at him. "Fine," he sighed "but I expect a long, exploratory viewing later." She glared at him again. God, she was hot. "Hey where'd you get those clothes?"

"Shh!" She shushed him.

"They're Santana's." Brittany smiled, from Rachel's other side.

"They're Rocky's now." Santana corrected and tightened her grip on Matt's hand. "I'd never be able to get the _Puck_ out of them." Brittany giggled as Santana curled her lip in distaste.

Puck just rolled his eyes and hauled Rachel up against his uninjured side.

"And then," Coach Sylvester concluded her condensed version of the tale "after Broadway throat punched Nutsack, here, she attached herself to Mohawk and tried to suck his lungs out."

Principal Figgins pinched the bridge of his nose, as he often did when speaking to Sue Sylvester. "Thank you, Sue."

"No problemo, Figgy."

"What are you going to do?" Mr. Shue asked quietly.

"I'm not entirely sure." Figgins answered honestly, rubbing his temples. "I can't expel all of them…"

"Mr. Figgins," Rachel said stepping forward, "if I might suggest-" She yelped as she was jerked backwards. "Noah! What the hell?"

Puck, who couldn't manage to stop touching the brunette, had hooked his fingers into the belt loops of Rachel's new jeans and pulled her back into him. He hissed in pain as she jarred his ribs. "I think you've done enough today, killer."

"But I just wanted to-"

"Leave this one to the teachers Rach." Finn said, smiling at her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and winced in pain. "Ow, dammit! I think I broke my thumb."

Puck couldn't hold in his laughter as Rachel patted the tall boy's cheek condescendingly. "You always have to keep your thumb on the outside of your fist, Finn." She curled her tiny hand into a tiny fist and punched him hard in the arm. "Like that."

"Geez Rach, what the hell?"

"That was for fighting. You know better."

"But Puck-"

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and stared down the quarterback. "And if Noah jumped off a bridge I suppose you would too?"

"Why would he jump off a bridge?" Finn asked, confused and completely missing the point of the question.

The diva quirked an eyebrow before turning her head to look at Noah.

Puck shrugged- he didn't say it, but an 'I told you so' was dancing on his tongue. Their silent conversation was cut off by three irate teachers.

"You can't do this!" Mr. Shue cried.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked Brittany and Mike, who had been watching the proceedings with interest.

"Figgins is trying to punish us by taking all of us out of our extracurricular activities." Mike answered, watching with fascination as Coach Sylvester got up in the principal's face.

"I didn't know someone's face could turn that colour." Finn observed. They all watched as the coach's face turned a violent shade of reddish-purple.

"Principal Figgins!" Rachel cried shrilly, interrupting the coach's threats, "Surely we can all come to some kind of agreement."

"Ms. Berry-" the Indian man sighed pinching the bridge of his nose.

Rachel nimbly escaped Puck's reaching hand, she never could think straight when he was touching her. And right now she needed to be on top of her game. "It's clear that everyone here needs to be reprimanded as the display put on today was both juvenile and shameful, I think though, that there must be a way around this current course of action. Because while we all know the football team is horrible,"

"Hey!" Mr. Shue cut Coach Tanaka off with a swift elbow to the side.

"Thank you Mr. Shue."

"Not a problem, Rachel, please continue."

She returned her gaze to Principal Figgins. "As I was saying the football team is dreadful and the hockey and baseball teams are even worse, but the Cheerios and glee both have a shot at winning prestigious awards for the school. And as Coach Sylvester so delicately pointed out the Cheerios are responsible for most of the extra funding that comes to McKinley, isn't that right?"

"Damn skippy." Coach Sylvester responded.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything." Principal Figgins commented.

"Well," Rachel said quietly, advancing on the man, "If you were to punish everyone who was responsible for this debacle today _fairly_ you should look right at the root of the problem, shouldn't you? The truth of the matter is if you're going to punish the sports teams for throwing slushies, you'll have to punish the Cheerios as well, because I've got eyewitness accounts of every one of those girls perpetrating the same crime. And if you're going to pull them out of extracurriculars that would leave you with no Cheerios and no money. That would be quite unfortunate."

"Are you trying to blackmail me Ms. Berry?"

Rachel gasped dramatically. "Of course not, Principal Figgins, I'm merely laying out the facts. If I were trying to threaten you I would simply remind you that my dad is a lawyer and he would be appalled at the lack of concern about the bullying that goes on at McKinley."

"I-"

"Perhaps the students involved in today's incident should be put to work doing something beneficial for the school. Community volunteer work or some such thing, which could result in some wonderful press for the school."

"Fine." Figgins snapped after a few minutes of tense silence. "50 hours of volunteer work per student by the end of the term. Mandatory."

"What a wonderful idea, Mr. Figgins." Rachel smirked slightly. The principal glared at the brunette before turning on his heel and heading back into the school.

"What just happened?" Finn asked, cradling his right hand.

"Rachel just talked everyone out of trouble." Mr. Shue grinned.

"Oh. Thanks Rach."

The brunette shrugged "I'd like to go home now."

"I'll take you!" Brittany offered cheerfully.

"I got this, Brit." Puck interjected throwing his uninjured arm over her shoulders. "See you all tomorrow."

"Huh." Mr. Shue said quietly to himself as he watched the two leave. "I thought they'd broken up."

"Oh Mr. Shue," Kurt shook his head haughtily. "Poor, naive Mr. Shue. Always one step behind."


	5. It's Not Mine, I Swear

_So I just watched the Sectionals episode, the thing Brittany said about keeping a bird in her locker? It's still making me laugh. I love her! And Rachel telling Quinn to beat her up, but to please avoid her nose was also priceless. And Shue and Emma melted my little heart…_

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

**It's Not Mine, I Swear**

"Wait a sec!" Finn called out, following the other six members of glee to the parking lot.

"What's up big guy?" Kurt asked as he and Mercedes stopped in front of his SUV.

"Rachel is dating _Puck_?"

The soprano shrugged. "Don't know."

"But they were- And then he… It's _Puck_! Rachel can't date Puck."

"What's wrong with Puck?" Brittany asked, looking over from where she was fussing over Mike's injuries. "I thought he was your best friend."

"Yeah," Santana glared from under Matt's arm, "And since when do you have any say in who either of them date? You have Quinn. Remember your pregnant girlfriend?"

"Of course I remember, it's just… It's Rachel." He glanced around, confused when he didn't get any support, "And Puck!"

"No," Kurt corrected. He batted his eyelashes at Mercedes dramatically "It's Noah."

Brittany giggled at how Kurt mimicked the breathy way Rachel always said Puck's name. It was almost as cute as the way Puck said her name all growly, not that she'd ever tell him that. "Mike?" the blonde asked tugging on her boyfriend's sleeve. She watched how his face changed as he looked at her. His eyes went all soft and his mouth turned up into a smile. The good smile, the one with the dimple.

"What's up Brit?" She felt her stomach flutter when he looked her in the eye and said her name.

"My sisters are at the babysitters and my mom's at work. I think you should take me home."

Mike's eyes widened slightly, this was new. "You drove to school…"

Brittany blinked, "Oh yeah. Well, I'll just have to take you home then."

The football player cleared his throat and started ushering her towards her car. "We're out. See you later, guys!"

"We're gonna go too." Santana announced.

Matt nodded at everyone. "Later."

Kurt looked at Mercedes and waved his phone at her. "Want to come over to my place? We can edit some footage and scoop that creepy Jacob kid."

"For sure."

Seconds later Finn found himself standing in an empty parking lot. "But it's Rachel and Puck!"

* * *

Puck's arm was heavy on Rachel's shoulders as they made their way to the parking lot, it made her shiver involuntarily. How had she never noticed this before? Every time he touched her there were sparks…

"You okay?" Puck asked looking down at the petite singer.

"What? Oh, yes. Yes I'm fine. But I left all my stuff in the washroom. I need to go get it."

Puck sighed. "Berry, we're trying to make a dramatic exit."

"Noah. I need my books. Plus my keys are in my bag."

"Fine. But I'm adding dramatic exit to the list."

"What list?"

"The list of things you owe me. 1) A little tattoo exploration time. 2) A dramatic exit. And you definitely need to let me touch your boobs for, you know, defending your honor and stuff."

Rachel rolled her eyes and suppressed a grin as they reached the ladies room. "Right. I'll be right back."

Puck watched Rachel disappear from view and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned as he waited. What was he doing? This morning he'd had every intention of never speaking to Rachel Berry again. She'd broken up with him. _Him_. Nobody broke up with him, he was a stud. A fucking legend. He'd banged half the school's moms and most of their girlfriends- his frown deepened as he errantly thought of Quinn- so what was he doing standing outside the girl's washroom, like a pussy, waiting for some girl who wouldn't even put out?

He looked up as Rachel pushed the door open. She was dragging her huge pink bag behind her and carrying a Cheerio duffle bag in the other hand. She smiled hesitantly at him. "Brit forgot her bag too." Puck grunted his response and watched her silently. She started to fidget nervously. "What?"

Impulsively the green eyed jock cupped her chin in his hand and leaned down to kiss her. He paid no attention as the two bags she was holding dropped to the floor; he was too distracted by the way she smelled like mangoes, but tasted like cinnamon. It was a weird combination, but it turned him on more than any cougar had in the past. He groaned as she arched into him and tried to pull him closer, until there was no space between them at all. Normally he hated it when people touched his hair, but as Rachel ran her fingers across his smooth scalp only to fist her hand in the short hairs of his mohawk and pull on it gently it was all he could do not to push her into the washroom and take her, on the floor, against the wall, in one of the stalls, it didn't really matter… It took all of his willpower to break the kiss. Right, that's what he was doing.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead as her eyes fluttered open and picked up the bags she'd dropped. "Come on, Rach, let's get you home."

* * *

They walked quickly to the parking lot, neither one of them speaking a word which was highly unusual for the opinionated diva. When they reached his truck Puck tossed the bags into the bed, then walked around to unlock the passenger side door. He helped Rachel into the truck silently then made his way over to the driver's side door. He took a deep breath before getting in; this was going to be a long ride.

The awkward silence continued as Puck hoisted himself into the truck and started the engine, but the quiet was shattered when his radio started blaring at a decibel high enough to deafen small children. Rachel cocked her head to one side. "Eye of the Tiger? Really?"

"It's the radio." Puck said hastily, turning down the volume. "There's CDs in the glove box."

"You're gonna let me choose?" Rachel asked quietly.

Puck leaned over to open the glove compartment, "Sure, why not?"

She smiled at him. "Thanks Noah."

"It's just music." He replied straightening up and throwing the truck into gear.

Rachel laid her hand on his and waited patiently until he looked at her. "It's not just about the music, Noah. Thank you."

Puck cleared his throat uncomfortably and turned his attention back to the road. This time the silence was less awkward. It was kinda nice, actually, just being together and not having Rachel talking his ear off. It had never been like this for him with any other girl. Guilt tugged at him as he thought of Quinn, the baby, telling Rachel… Shit. He had to tell Rachel. He looked over at the brunette who was humming and smiling as she thumbed through his CD collection. Why did he feel like things were going to end before they even began?

Rachel looked over at Noah, who was scowling at the road, she considered not saying anything, but looked down again and couldn't help herself. "Hannah Montana?"

"What?" Puck looked over at her blankly.

Rachel smirked and held up the book of CDs so that the offending one was in front. "You own a Hannah Montana CD?"

Puck groaned. "It's my sister's."

Rachel snorted. "Sure it is."

"It is!" Puck said indignantly, trying to defend himself. "I told her to stop leaving her shit in my truck, but she won't listen to me! I-"

Rachel laughed and slipped a CD into the stereo. "Relax Noah. I think it's sweet that you let your sister listen to her music in your truck." She cut him off just as he opened his mouth to speak again, "I won't tell anyone."

Puck grunted. "Good."

They made small talk the rest of the way to Rachel's house; easy stuff like the weather, and school, and glee… But the awkwardness returned when he parked in her driveway.

"Do you want to come in?"

Puck smirked at her. "You have no idea. But I'm not really a 'bring home to the folks' kinda guy."

"My dads are in New York until next weekend." Rachel told him quietly.

Puck squirmed in his seat at the idea of being in an empty house with Rachel for over a week. "I can't."

"Oh," Rachel looked down at her hands, "Okay, well I'll see you at school I guess… Thanks for today-"

Puck reached over and cupped Rachel's chin in his hand before she could make her hasty getaway and turned her face so she was looking at him. "I want to Rach," he looked down at his now incredibly uncomfortable jeans, "you have no idea how much I want to. But I gotta go pick my sister up from the babysitter's."

Rachel smiled tentatively. "But you want to?"

Puck nodded. "I definitely want to."

Rachel's smile broadened and she leaned over to kiss him briefly on his swollen lips. "Okay. Raincheck?"

Puck pulled her in for another quick kiss. "Totally."

"I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Puck shook his head. "I'll pick you up."

She smiled at him again. "Okay."

Puck waited until she'd grabbed her and Brittany's bags from the truck bed and entered her house before taking off. He was going to kill his sister for leaving Hannah Montana in his truck.


	6. This Is What It's Like

_I'm SO sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up! With work and school it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Plus I slipped on some ice walking to school last week and destroyed my arm and got a mild concussion… A wonderful Christmas present… Anyway, I'm feeling better now, and I have the next chapter underway. I'll post it ASAFP, promise._

**CHAPTER SIX:**

**This Is What It's Like**

Rachel finished her homework quickly that night and started restlessly pacing her bedroom. Normally she would update her MySpace page or go down to the basement, where her dads had created a makeshift ballet studio for her, and practice for a few hours, but she couldn't concentrate.

When she caught sight of herself in the mirror she stopped and stared. The other kids were right; Santana's jeans did make her ass look fantastic. Maybe she should work some more conservative clothes into her wardrobe… She spun around suddenly and looking back over her shoulder inched her shirt up. She frowned, you couldn't see her tattoo unless… Her eyes widened as she lowered the waistband of the jeans- you could see it now that her pants were riding incredibly low, almost to the point of indecency. What had she and Noah been doing on the football field, in front of everyone, while Mercedes was recording it? She groaned in embarrassment, at least her dads hadn't been there. Noah wouldn't be allowed within 10 feet of her ever again if they had.

Rachel looked over her shoulder again and stroked a finger over the small tattoo. It was pretty small and very simple; just a star with the letters ARL inside it. ARL, for her birth mom: Abigail Rachel Logan. She and her dads had been in contact with Abby until she'd died a year ago. The tattoo had been Rachel's idea of commemoration which her dads had grudgingly agreed to- just so long as it wasn't visible.

Turning away from the mirror she walked over to her closet and threw the doors open. She sighed as she surveyed its contents. She needed help. Sighing again she flopped onto her bed and grabbed the phone off her nightstand. Idly humming Whispering from the Spring Awakening soundtrack she waited for someone to answer.

"Isaac Berry."

"Hi dad."

"Rach. It's so good to hear your voice! Where's your father? Nate! Nathaniel, Rachel's on the phone!"

Rachel rolled her eyes fondly, that was her dad. Isaac Elijah Berry was a short man with thick dark hair, glasses and an unreasonable love of sweater vests. He was a lawyer, who spent a lot of hours at work, but when he was home he showered so much affection on Rachel and her other dad, Nate, that they hardly knew what to do with themselves.

Nathaniel Matthew Berry was her other dad, her pop. He was tall, dark skinned and would do anything to make her dad happy; including dressing up in a sweater vest and smiling goofily for a portrait. Pop loved sports and cars and other manly things, he was actually as different from her dad as a man could be, but he loved her and he loved her dad more than anything.

They may have been different, as families go, but she wouldn't have them any other way. She smiled as she heard pop squeeze up beside her dad. "Hey Monster."

"Hi pop. How's New York?"

"It's fabulous, pumpkin." Her dad answered. "We're going to see Rent tonight."

"That's awesome dad. I can't believe you got tickets."

"Yeah," Rachel could practically hear pop rolling his eyes, "can't wait."

"It'll be great, pop. You'll love it. I promise."

"Sure, Rach. So what's up with the phone call?"

Rachel took a deep breath "Well, I was talking to some friends from glee today and they want to take me shopping and I was wondering if I could use the credit card you guys left me to buy some new clothes. Please, daddy? Papa?"

"You have lots of clothes Rach…" Her dad started, doing the whole frugal, level headed dad thing- plus he loved that she wore sweater vests.

"Different clothes, dad. More casual."

"Like, jeans and stuff?" Pop asked.

"Exactly."

"Jeans, Rachel? I don't know-"

"Go for it Rach." Pop interrupted. He was always trying to get her to tone down her uptight ways, to just throw on a pair of jeans and sweatshirt and toss a baseball around with him- it was unfortunate that apart from dance she wasn't the least bit athletic.

"Thanks pop. Enjoy the show tonight. Remember every detail; I want to hear all about it when you get back."

"You got it, monster. Have fun shopping with your friends. Say goodbye Isaac."

"But Nathaniel, I really think-"

"Just say goodbye, we'll talk about it later."

"Goodbye, pumpkin."

"Bye dad. I love you."

"We love you too." Pop assured her.

Rachel sighed when she hung up the phone. Now to get Kurt and Brittany on board.

* * *

Brittany sighed as she watched Mike climb out her window- they'd heard her mom and sisters get home a couple minutes ago, and she'd be _so dead_ if her mom caught her doing the dirty… She gave her boyfriend one last smile as he disappeared from view and grabbed a magazine just as her mom came into her room.

"Hi mom." Brittany smiled.

"Brittany," her mom sighed, "you do know that that magazine is upside down, don't you?"

The blonde looked down and grimaced, sure enough the cheerleading magazine she'd grabbed was upside down. "Mom-"

The 36 year old woman shook her head "Just tell Mike to use the door next time, okay? He could break his neck climbing down that tree." Brittany just stared at her mom in shock. "The phone's for you."

"Thanks-"

She was about to leave when she looked back at her oldest daughter- who was making no effort to pick up the phone. "And Brit?"

"Yeah mom?"

"Be careful, okay?"

"I promise."

"And if one of your sisters ever walks in on you, so help me, you are going to be the one to give them _the talk_."

Brittany shivered at the thought of giving one of her younger sisters the 'birds and the bees' speech. "Okay mom."

Her mom nodded and grinned at her "Phone."

Brittany shivered again as her mom made her way down the hallway. How did she always know stuff like that? She must be psychic or something… The blonde shrugged as she picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Brit?"

"Oh, hey Kurt. What's up?"

"Only a dream come true. Rachel just called me. She's got a credit card and her dads' permission to update her wardrobe."

"Huh?"

"Makeover. Rachel Berry. Meet us at the mall in 30 minutes."

"Oh my gosh," Brit smiled, scanning her room for her purse "I can be there in 20."

"Good. We'll meet you in the food court."

"Bye Kurt."

Brit grinned as she scrambled to find her stuff- how had her shoes ended up behind her desk? Then she blushed as she remembered her and Mike's haste to get undressed earlier. She found her purse and bounded down the stairs. "Mom, I going to the mall!"

"With who?" her mom asked poking her head out from the kitchen.

"Some of my friends from glee. It's a makeover emergency!"

Her mom laughed. "Okay Brit, have fun. Don't forget your curfew."

"Thanks mom!" Brit ran from the house to her car. She loved makeovers! Well, actually, she'd never actually given anyone a makeover before, but they looked really fun in the movies…

* * *

Rachel groaned as _another_ pile of clothes were shoved over the change room door. "Kurt! I can't possibly try on all these clothes!"

"You _can _and you _will_!" the fashionista replied forcefully, before flouncing away to find more.

"So anyway," Brittany continued from the other side of the door "then she said Mike should just use the door 'cause he might break his neck falling out of the tree… Do you think she has, like, ESPN or something?"

The brunette rolled her eyes fondly. "ESP Brit, not ESPN."

"Right," the Cheerio said, "whatever. Do you think she has it?"

Rachel laughed softly as she exited the change room wearing a short jean skirt, a plain gray t-shirt and a recently purchased pair of black leather boots. "No, I don't think your mother has psychic abilities Brittany. Do you think this skirt is too short?"

This time Brittany laughed as she walked up to Rachel and tugged the skirt down until it was resting on the tilt of her hips. "It's not that short, you're just wearing it too high."

"Oh," The brunette said as she shifted in front of the mirror, trying to get as many different views of the outfit as possible, "but now the shirt's too short."

Brit laughed again, with the skirt pulled down to the right height about an inch and a half of Rachel's midriff was visible in the gap between it and the t-shirt. "It's supposed to look like that Rach. Trust me, you look hot. Although-"

"It needs a belt." Kurt commented as he and Mercedes came back into the changing area, each of them with armfuls of clothes.

Mercedes nodded her agreement. "Black- to go with the boots. And maybe a necklace."

This time Kurt nodded "Silver and yellow."

Mercedes and Brittany smiled. "Perfect. Back in you go." Mercedes shooed Rachel back into the change room with her pile of clothes, then as Rachel closed and locked the door she turned to Brittany. "So what'd I miss?"

"Her mom knew she and Mike had sex even though he was gone, now she thinks she has ESP!" Rachel yelled from inside the stall.

Mercedes chuckled and patted the blonde cheerleader's arm knowingly. "It's not ESP, girl, moms just _know_."

"My dad always gives me this look when I keep something from him." Kurt added. "Like he knows when I'm lying. I don't know how he always knows… It's so annoying."

Rachel laughed softly inside her change room as the others continued to commiserate about their parents. So this was what it was like to have friends.


	7. Killing Me

_Alright so here's chapter seven. We got a little insight into Rachel's life last time, now it's Puck's turn… Review! Please? Pretty please? Your reviews are like food… You wouldn't want poor, injured me to die of starvation before I can finish the fic, would you? Would you?_

_Do you feel sufficiently guilted yet? ;) Love you guys long time!_

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

**Killing Me**

Puck got out of his truck slowly and started trudging up Mrs. Goldman's driveway when the door was flung open and his sister was flying towards him. "Noah!" Unable to keep the grin off his face Puck caught the 7 year old as she launched herself at him, he barely managed to keep from wincing as her knee connected with his injured ribs.

"Danica Puckerman!" Mrs. Goldman scolded, "You get back here right now and put your coat on!"

"Better do as she says, Dani," Puck whispered to his sister conspiratorially "she looks mad enough to eat your face right off."

Dani giggled as he set her on the ground, "She's not a monster, Noah." Puck just quirked an eyebrow and Dani giggled again. "I got something to show you Noah, don't go anywhere okay?"

Puck smiled at his sister, though inside he was angry. She always said that. It pissed him off. Dani hadn't even been born when their father left, but every time he left her sight she made him promise that he wouldn't go anywhere. It wasn't fair. "I'll be here Dani. Now hurry up and get your stuff."

Dani smiled a gap toothed smile at him- she'd lost one of her front teeth 2 days ago. "Okay. I'll be right back."

Puck smiled back, genuinely this time, and watched her scamper back into the house. Then he turned his smile toward the tiny gray haired woman leaning in the doorway. "Hi Mrs. G."

"Hello yourself, Noah."

"How was she today?"

"A handful, as always." The old woman replied, her brown eyes twinkling. "A lot like a certain little boy I used to take care of. One who doesn't visit me near as much as he ought to."

The mohawked jock ran a hand over his stripe of hair and grinned sheepishly at the woman he considered to be a surrogate grandmother. "Sorry Mrs. G."

"I suppose I shouldn't ask what happened to your face."

"Football?" He mumbled weakly.

"Mmhmm." She hummed knowingly as Dani raced back out of the house to her brother's side.

"I'm ready Noah."

"Alright squirt," Puck said, ruffling her hair "Let's get a move on. Bye Mrs. G."

"Bye Mrs. G!" Dani echoed her brother, "See you tomorrow!"

"I hope she was worth it, Noah!" Mrs. G shouted as they reached the truck.

Puck didn't even bat an eye as he looked back at her. "She is."

"Is she Jewish?"

Puck rolled his eyes as he helped his sister into the truck- just like his mom. "Yes."

Finally she smiled at him. "Good."

"Bye Mrs. G." He said again, shaking his head and refusing to smile.

"Goodbye Noah."

* * *

The drive home had been fairly peaceful. He'd managed to tune Dani out most of the ride; responding with the appropriate 'that's great, Squirt' or 'that sucks'. Then she asked him _the question_. "Noah."

Puck looked over at the sound of Dani's whiniest voice. "What Dani?"

"Will you sing for me? Please?"

"Dani…"

"Please, Noah?" Dani batted her big green eyes at him. "Please? Please? Please?"

Puck closed his eyes and silently cursed himself for teaching Dani the puppy dog eyes. "Fine. What do you want to sing?"

Dani grinned and grabbed for Puck's giant book of CD's. "I want-"

"No Hannah Montana." Puck growled, he had a particular loathing for that CD now…

"But-"

"No."

"Fine." Dani relented and went back to flipping through the CD's.

"Better choose quickly, Squirt, or we'll be home."

"This one!" Dani said triumphantly, holding a CD above her head.

"Put it in." Puck said, grinning at his sister in amusement.

The 7 year old smiled slyly at her brother before ejecting the CD that was in the stereo and replacing it with her pick. She bit her lip to keep in her laughter at Noah's reaction.

"Really Dani?" He groaned.

Dani nodded and giggled as the sound of The Jonas Brothers filled the truck. "You said no Hannah Montana."

"If you want me to sing it has to be something I like."

"But-"

"How 'bout Neil Diamond?"

Dani wrinkled her nose as she took out her CD. "Eww, Noah, that's mom music."

"I don't know," Puck grinned to himself, "I kinda like Sweet Caroline."

* * *

At 10 o'clock Puck was in his room in bed. Bored out of his mind, he was tossing a football in the air. His mom was still at work so he'd taken care of Dani all night. He'd fed her, made sure her homework was done- they always did their homework together at the kitchen table with a big plate of cookies, it was tradition- he'd made sure she'd brushed her teeth, read her a story and tucked her into bed.

He grunted and threw the football a little too forcefully, hitting the ceiling, screw Quinn and her telling him he wasn't ready to be a dad. He'd been a dad since he was 10 years old. Bitch.

He threw the football on the floor and pulled out his cell phone, he needed to get his mind out of these deep thoughts. Thumbs moving quickly he texted Rachel.

_Hey Berry, whatcha doing?_

_Just got home from the mall. What are you doing?_

_Nothing. I'm bored. Entertain me._

_How?_

Puck smirked as he sent his next message. _What are you wearing?_

_Noah!!!_

He laughed, even her text message sounded scandalized. Giving up on texting Puck dialed Rachel's number. She picked up on the first ring. "Hey Berry."

"Noah," Rachel sighed, "you do realize you can call me Rachel, right? I won't be offended if you call me by my first name."

He rolled his eyes. "Hey Rachel."

"Hello Noah."

"So what are you wearing?"

"I'm not answering that."

Puck laughed he could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "Just a hint Ber- Rachel. I'm not wearing a shirt." He admitted playfully "Your turn…"

"Noah," Rachel said sternly, "I'm going to hang up if you don't behave yourself."

He laughed. "Sorry. So what'd you do tonight?"

"I went to the mall with Kurt, Brittany, and Mercedes."

Puck quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes. I was supplementing my wardrobe with more conservative clothing."

"English, please."

"I bought some jeans and stuff."

"Hmm…" Puck frowned "You're not giving up on the dirty Catholic schoolgirl look are you? I kinda like those short skirts you wear."

"I told you to behave, Puckerman." Rachel huffed.

"What? I'm just being honest. Those skirts are the best part of my day."

"I was led to believe that jeans make my ass look good. What did Mercedes say? Oh yes, 'damn girl, look at yo fine ghetto booty in them jeans'." Puck literally choked on his laughter at Rachel's surprisingly accurate imitation of the black diva. "Noah?" Rachel asked in concern at his bout of coughing "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," The jock answered, calming down slightly, "but you're killing me here. All I can picture is you, Brit, and Mercedes in the same change room helping each other try on clothes…"

"Noah!"

"I can't help it," He defended feebly, shifting uncomfortably on his bed, "I'm a teenage boy!"

"Yes well, Kurt was there too, you know."

Puck sighed. "You ruined it."

Rachel laughed. "He could be the Bosley in your demented little 'glee club/Charlie's Angel' fantasy."

Puck groaned. "You _are_ trying to kill me."

Rachel laughed again. "Sweet dreams Noah."

"Yeah, yeah. You want me to pick you up for school in the morning?"

"That would be lovely. Thank you."

"No problem."

"Goodnight Noah."

"Night Ber- Rachel."

"Oh, and Noah?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm wearing the t-shirt you left at my house that one time."

Puck could only stare at his phone as she hung up on him. The operator telling him to hang up his phone snapped him out of his shock. Rachel Berry was a tease. He smiled at the thought, then groaned at the memories of the make out session that had led to his t-shirt being abandoned at her house. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Quinn Fabray was not happy.

Her relationship with Finn was rocky at the moment and now, thanks to a YouTube video that Kurt and Mercedes had posted several hours ago, she was losing her grip on Puck too. She stifled a scream and threw a pillow across her bedroom- knocking a cheerleading trophy off of her dresser.

This kind of thing was not supposed to happen, especially not to her. She was Quinn Fabray! _Quinn freaking Fabray_!! She was head Cheerio, most popular girl in school, half of the _it _couple, Quinn Fabray!!!

Except she wasn't. Not anymore. Now she was _former_ head Cheerio, gleek, pregnant with her boyfriend's loser best friend's baby, Quinn Fabray… And she was losing her boyfriend and baby daddy- as much as she didn't want _him_- to Rachel 'man hands' Berry.

What the hell was that about anyway? What was so special about _Rachel Berry_? So she could sing and had nice legs, she had absolutely _no _fashion sense and she was batshit crazy. And still Finn worshiped the ground she walked on- _"Rachel's so talented… Rachel's so smart… Rachel taught me how to hit a high B"_- and Puck had _never_ kissed her that way, even in the middle of sex, plus he was now fighting for her honour or some shit…

She muffled another scream and threw another pillow across her room. This was not acceptable.


	8. We're Dating, Aren't We?

_So no excuses for the lack of updates... Just Writer's Block and being busy. But never fear I haven't given up! I'm sure some reviews would cure my ills... wink wink._

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

**We're Dating, Aren't We?**

Rachel cocked her head to the side as she stared at herself in the mirror. She'd woken up extra early this morning so she could get in her work out, shower, eat, and agonize over what to wear for the day. 3 out of 4 wasn't bad, right?

Her narcissistic trance was interrupted when her cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Rachel?"

"Kurt?"

"Of course it's me, darling. So what are you wearing?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Really Kurt?"

"Can't have you falling back on bad habits, can we?" Rachel shook her head in amusement. "So?"

She sighed "Black tank top, purple vest, jeans, and purple flats."

"Hmm… Belt?"

"No."

"Hair?"

"Down."

"Straight or wavy?"

"Wavy."

"Alright Berry. You pass. I'll see you at school."

Rachel just stared at her phone as Kurt hung up. "Nice talking to you too." Her stomach growled and she swore as she heard the doorbell ring.

* * *

Puck shifted nervously from foot to foot as he waited outside Rachel's house. He was exactly 3 minutes early, he knew because he'd checked his watch every 10 seconds since he'd rung the doorbell.

His breath caught in his throat as she swung the door open. "Hey Rach."

"Good morning Noah."

"Ready to head to school?"

"Actually no," She grimaced "I'm running a little behind today. Would you like to come in?"

"Uh, sure, but…"

Rachel stepped to the side and waited for Puck to enter the house, she looked at him curiously as he didn't move. "I was just about to make some breakfast, would you like some?"

Puck looked up, he was always hungry. "Sure, but- Rach my little sister's in the truck. My mom got called into work early and I have to take Dani to the babysitter's before school."

Rachel strained to look around Noah, as he was standing in her field of vision. "Your sister's here? Can I meet her?"

"Yeah, but-"

"We should get going if she has to be at the babysitters."

"What about your breakfast?"

"Hmm," Rachel pondered as she grabbed her new purple messenger bag, "well I suppose we could always pick something up on the way to school. What about your sister? Has she eaten?"

"I don't know."

"Noah!" Rachel scolded as she brushed past him "Your sister's a growing girl; she needs to eat a balanced-"

"Rachel!" Puck cut her off, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards him, "Dani usually eats breakfast at Mrs. G's. She'll be fine."

"But-" He cut her off again, this time by twining his left hand in her hair and leaning down to kiss her.

Rachel melted into the kiss; it wasn't like one they'd shared before. This one wasn't about desperation or hunger; it was kind of… sweet. They both drew back at the sound of giggling. "Noah, that's gross! Come on, let's go!"

Rachel gasped dramatically and slapped him lightly in the stomach. "Noah," She whispered furiously "you can't just kiss me in front of your sister like that!"

Puck stood dumbfounded- alone- as Rachel climbed into his truck and his sister giggled from the back seat. He shook his fist at Dani, who started laughing and talking at Rachel. The jock shook his head as he made his way to the driver's side door. His sister was such a cockblocker.

* * *

"And then Noah threw me into the pool, with my clothes on and everything." Dani finished her story. "Mom was _so_ mad…"

Rachel did her best to hold in her smile, but when she looked over at Puck she couldn't contain it. The mohawked footballer shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I only threw you into the pool because you were being a brat, Danica."

Rachel let out an outraged gasp on Dani's behalf, but shared a look of amusement with Puck. "Noah! That's awful. I'm sure Dani was nothing but sweet and innocent."

"No," Dani sighed from the backseat, "I was being a brat. My mom said so. She was only mad at Noah 'cause I was wearing my new school clothes."

"See?" Puck said, one eyebrow raised, as he pulled off the road into a driveway.

Rachel chuckled as he turned off the ignition and Dani practically flew out of the truck. "Come on Rachel! You gotta come meet Mrs. G!"

Rachel watched as the precocious 7 year old ran up the driveway, her bright pink My Little Pony backpack and dark brown pigtails streaming behind her. She turned to Puck, who was staring at her with curiosity written all over his features. "She's adorable, Noah."

"Sometimes." Puck agreed. He leaned over and kissed her softly "Thanks for being so nice to her."

"Of course, she's your sister…"

Puck kissed her again before looking up and seeing Dani and Mrs. G standing in the doorway. He groaned. "Come on, you'd better meet Mrs. G, or she'll skin me alive."

The two teenagers were walking toward the house when they heard Dani explain to the old lady about 'how they kissed like that _all the time_' as if she hadn't just met Rachel 10 minutes ago. The diva stopped in her tracks and groaned quietly as Puck's younger sister made that fact known. Puck laughed quietly and slung his arm about her shoulders. "Come on Rach."

Rachel shook her head "She's going to think I'm some kind of harlot! That I molest you in front of 7 year old girls!" She whispered furiously.

"She's not going to think that." Puck soothed her as he led her toward the house. "She's only 71; even she doesn't use the word harlot…"

Rachel glared at him and elbowed him hard in the side. "Noah!"

He laughed again and stopped her before the old woman. "Morning Mrs. G."

"Good morning Noah." The white haired woman greeted as he kissed her cheek. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Rachel," he introduced her, prompting her to shake Mrs. G's hand, "my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Rachel squeaked.

Puck nodded, not giving her the option of disagreeing or questioning him. "Well, I hate to cut this short, but we gotta run if we want to eat before school."

"Nonsense." Mrs. G protested "You'll eat here, with your sister."

"But-"

The old woman didn't even wait to hear Puck's protests; she just turned her back and began ushering Dani and Rachel into the house. "Now Rachel, dear, Noah tells me you're Jewish."

"Yeah, my dad-"

"Good, good." Mrs. G cut her off, "Are you kosher? Because I'm afraid this old lady has fallen on bad habits. I just love bacon."

Rachel giggled as she shook her head "No, my pop loves bacon too, too much to let my dad cut it out of our lives."

Mrs. G grinned at her. "It's a good thing I made plenty. Noah, quit standing in the doorway, you're letting all the heat out!"

Dani laughed as her brother was scolded and grabbed Rachel's hand. "Come on Rachel, I'll show you around."

Rachel turned to look at Puck and gave him a half shrug as his sister dragged her away. "She's a good girl." Mrs. G commented as she watched her surrogate grandson take off his lettermen jacket.

Puck snorted "You just met her 2 minutes ago." She just smiled at him, a knowing look in her wise brown eyes. He held up his hands in surrender "Alright, alright! She's a good girl. Now where's that bacon you were talking about?"

* * *

Puck glanced over at Rachel who was shifting nervously in the passenger seat. "What's wrong Berry?"

"What? Nothing." The diva glanced in his direction, but wouldn't look him in the eye. Puck shrugged and turned his attention back to the road. "You told Mrs. G that I was your girlfriend!" She blurted out after a few awkward minutes of silence.

Puck quirked an eyebrow as he pulled into the school parking lot. "And?"

"What do you mean 'And'?" Rachel demanded "You told her I was your girlfriend!" Puck turned off the truck and just continued to stare at her. "Am I?"

She asked the question so quietly he barely heard her. "Do you want to be?"

"I-" she stared at him intently for a minute, as if she was searching for something. "Yes."

"Good." He declared, throwing open his door. Rachel grabbed her bag and followed after him, and when she caught up Puck let his arm settle heavily on her shoulders. "I have football practice after school today, so I won't be able to drive you home. Can you hitch a ride with Hummel or something?"

Rachel shook her head "My car's still here from yesterday."

"Good."

Rachel nodded, not quite sure what to do. "I-"

Puck chuckled and leaned down to kiss her briefly. "I don't have to pick Dani up today, 'cause of practice, so why don't we do something tonight? I could cash in that rain check…"

Rachel eyed him, surprised "Like a date?"

He nodded "Well, we are dating aren't we?"

"Yeah-"

"Good." He kissed her again before starting down the hallway, "I'll see you at lunch."

Rachel just stood there, watching him go. She couldn't quite get her mind around what happened; she had a boyfriend and she was going on her first date… She was snapped out of her daze when Kurt, Mercedes and Tina descended on her. "W-was that Puck?" Tina asked.

Kurt and Mercedes exchanged knowing glances over Rachel's head as the brunette continued to stare down the hallway absently. "Yeah. We're going on a date."

Mercedes shared a high five with Kurt. "Girl, he asked you out?"

Rachel shook her head and looked at her three friends. "Well he kind of told me…"

Kurt rolled his eyes as he linked his arm through Rachel's "Men. They think they own the world. Now, let's talk about what you're going to wear tonight."

Tina looked over at Mercedes as the two walked ahead of them. "I th-thought Pu-Puck and Rachel b-broke up." Mercedes shook her head and brought her and Kurt's YouTube video up on her phone. She handed it over to Tina without a word. "Oh."


	9. Even The Chess Team?

_So I wasn't entirely happy with the last chapter, I like this one better though... Let me know what you think. In the meantime I'll get on the next chapter. Happy reading!_

**CHAPTER NINE:**

**Even The Chess Team?**

Quinn stood at her locker, barely listening as Santana went on and on about the fight that had happened yesterday on the football field. She didn't really care that Matt had punched Chris Mays, or that Chris Mays had tried to feel her friend up for that matter… She didn't really tune into the conversation until Santana mentioned Rachel's name. "What did you just say?"

"Oh, Rachel punched Karofsky right in the throat. It was pretty awesome actually, even Coach Sylvester-"

"Since when have we acknowledged RuPaul as anything other than an _it_?"

Santana frowned "I-" She looked away from Quinn, trying to avoid the blonde's glare, and smiled in relief as Brittany hurried down the hallway toward them. "Hi Brit!"

"Hey guys." Brittany replied, smiling her sunny smile at them. "You'll never guess what I heard this morning."

"What?" Santana asked, always eager to hear gossip.

"Rachel and Puck are going on a date."

Quinn's scoffed "Yeah right."

Santana nodded her agreement "Puck doesn't do dates, Brit. He's more of a 'wham, bam, you're welcome ma'am' kinda guy. I should know."

"I thought it was 'thank you ma'am'." Brittany mused.

"It is." Santana confirmed "But Puck's not a 'thank you' kinda guy either."

Brittany shrugged "I don't know about that, but it's true. Kurt told me."

Quinn scoffed again. "Like lady _un_-fabulous knows anything."

"But he told me that Rachel told him-"

"RuPaul, wouldn't know what being asked on a date was like if it bit her on her giant nose."

"Well, Mike told me too."

"Mike?" Santana asked with a raised eyebrow.

Brittany nodded "He told me Puck asked him for advice."

Quinn slammed her locker shut. "That's ridiculous. Why would _Mike_ have any advice to give?"

"Hey!" Brittany exclaimed as Quinn stalked away. "Mike's romantic!" She looked over at Santana. "What's her problem?"

The Latina shrugged before narrowing her eyes at the blonde. "Brit, why aren't you wearing your Cheerios uniform?"

* * *

"Hey man," Finn said, jogging up to Puck's side, "what's up?"

"Nothing." Puck shrugged

"Mike told me-"

Puck didn't let his best friend finish his sentence. "Fucking Chang; can't keep his mouth shut… I knew I should have talked to Matt."

"What are you doing?" Finn demanded.

"What do mean?"

"Are you just screwing around with Rachel? 'Cause she's a nice girl and-"

Puck snorted. "Am _I_ screwing around with Rachel? Look who's talking! You've been leading her on since this whole glee thing started!"

"What? I have not!"

Puck shook his head "Whatever, Hudson, keep telling yourself that. But Rachel is _my_ girlfriend so go play 'big brother' somewhere else. And if I catch you doing that 'aw shucks, I'm so sweet' dopey eyed, flirting thing you do I'll kick your ass, broken ribs and all."

Finn stared wide eyed as his best friend stormed away. Did Puck just call him a dope?

* * *

Brittany took a deep breath as she knocked on Coach Sylvester's door. "Come in." The blonde tentatively pushed the door open and stepped into the office.

"Morning Coach."

Sue pushed the papers she was working on aside and looked up. "Wright. Why aren't you wearing your uniform?"

"That's the thing Coach," Brit replied, placing her Cheerios duffle bag- full of her uniforms, pompoms and other cheering essentials- on a chair across from the coach's desk, "I don't want to be a Cheerio anymore."

"Excuse me?" Coach Sylvester asked incredulously.

"I don't want-"

"I know what you said, Blondie." Coach said, leaning menacingly forward. "I'm just not sure I believe it. Do you know what you're doing?"

"I-"

"I'm not sure you do, Brittany." She spat the blonde's name out as if it was a curse. "If you do this I will make your life a living hell. I will haunt you. At school. Outside school. In your nightmares… You will regret this."

Brittany shook her head. "I don't think I will, Coach."

"I'm not your coach anymore, am I?"

"No," Brittany said thoughtfully "I guess you're not."

"Think very hard about this, Wright." Coach warned as Brittany started out of the office.

Brittany looked over her shoulder. "I already have."

The tall cheerleading coach leaned back in her chair as the blonde closed the door behind her. Frowning at the door she slammed a hand down on her desk. First Fabray, now Wright, her best Cheerios were dropping like flies. If she didn't do something soon her chances of being state champion again this year were down the drain as were her funds. She'd be damned if she let that curly haired, prima donna, _gleek_ beat her. Something had to be done.

* * *

Rachel was sitting alone at the glee lunch table when Brittany flopped down next to her. "Brittany? Why aren't you sitting with the Cheerios? And why aren't you wearing-"

"I'm not a Cheerio anymore." Brittany snapped. When the shocked, slightly hurt look crossed Rachel's face Brittany swore. "Shit. I'm sorry Rach; it's just that everyone in like the _whole world_ has asked me that today."

"It's okay." Rachel said quietly. She looked down at her lunch, which was laid out in front of her, and selected the tastiest thing she had. "Cookie?"

Brittany smiled and took the proffered goodie. "Thanks."

Rachel nodded and took a bite of her sandwich, after chewing methodically and swallowing, she asked the question that was burning in her mind "Why'd you quit?"

Brittany looked up, her blue eyes meeting Rachel's brown ones, "I'm a good person."

Rachel didn't understand the blonde's reasoning, but nodded anyway. "Of course you are Brit."

The two sat in a comfortable silence until Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, and Artie approached the lunch table. "Hola!" Kurt greeted in a horrible Spanish accent.

"Hi Kurt." Rachel replied wearily.

"Well, it's nice to see you too." The soprano said huffily, due to the lack of passion in Rachel's greeting.

"Are you going to try and mentally dress me again?"

"No."

"Then, hi Kurt!" The diva cried.

Mercedes laughed at her over enthusiastic, fake greeting. "You know he just wants you to look hot for your boy toy."

Artie looked up at his friends "Rachel has a boy toy?"

"Boy!" Mercedes said disbelievingly "You mean to tell me you ain't heard 'bout Rachel and her man Puck?"

"But I thought they broke up." The wheelchair bound boy commented.

Tina patted Artie's arm as Mercedes and Kurt burst into laughter. "Y-you haven't seen the vi-video, have you?"

Rachel glared as both Kurt and Mercedes whipped out their phones. "Put those away." Then she turned to Artie, "We're back together, okay?"

The guitarist shrugged and began inspecting his lunch. "Cool."

Brittany poked Rachel in the arm and waited until the brunette was facing her again. "So is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"Are you and Puck going on a date? Like a_ real_ date?"

Rachel nodded nervously. Then looking around, making sure Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, and Artie were all deep in conversation with one another, she leaned in toward the blonde "I've never been on a date before." She confessed.

"Really?" Brittany asked. Rachel nodded, refusing to look the ex-cheerleader in the eye. "It's okay Rach." The blonde said cheerily "I never really went on a date 'til last year."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously what?" Puck asked, coming up behind the two girls.

"Nothing!" Rachel exclaimed quickly. Brittany, sensing her new friend's embarrassment, just shrugged.

Puck didn't respond, dismissing the girl's conversation as _girl talk_, instead he pushed Kurt's chair- with the boy still in it- away from Rachel, grabbed a chair from the table behind him and placed it between the two divas. He was about to sit down when an annoyingly nasal voice piped up. "Someone was sitting there, _gleek_."

Puck quirked a brow and looked down at the table. When the scrawny, bespectacled boy looked up the jock's expression turned from amused to menacing. "What did you call me?"

The boy paled visibly. "P-Puck… I-"

Puck continued to glare at him until Rachel tugged on his shirt. "Noah. Come on, sit down."

Reluctantly Puck's glare left the boy and he settled into the chair he'd placed between Rachel and Kurt. He draped his arm along the back of his girlfriend's chair and looked around the now silent table. "So even the chess team treats you guys that way?"

Rachel sighed at Puck and Brittany's curious expressions. "It's the accepted social hierarchy at our school."

"English?"

Artie rolled his eyes and took a bite of his sandwich. "Yes."

"Congratulations Barbie," Mercedes smiled hollowly at Brittany, "you've just reached the bottom of the barrel."

Brittany took a close look at each person at the table. Mercedes- the tough fashionista, who wasn't quite as tough as she wanted everyone to believe, Rachel- the intelligent, driven, songstress, Puck- the unrepentantly honest athlete, Kurt- the lady fabulous, talented, soprano, Tina- the incredibly shy, goth chick with a heart of gold, and Artie- the geeky looking but epically cool guitarist. "Well, you guys and Mike will all be there with me, right?"

Puck was about to say something when Rachel cut him off with a slap to the stomach. "Yeah, Brit, we're all at the bottom with you."

"Then it doesn't matter."


	10. Just Trust Me

_No real excuses for the long hiatus... Life kind of just git in the way. But to get back in everyone's good graces I've already started on the next chapter, which will be Rachel and Puck's date. Maybe there will even be some steaminess... Hugs and ponies go to reviewers, on top of the love and rockets that go to those who haven't given up on me._

**CHAPTER TEN:**

**JUST TRUST ME**

"Hi Rach." Brittany smiled, bouncing up to the brunette's locker just after the last bell of the day.

"Hey Brit." Rachel smiled back, "What's up?"

"Well," the blonde responded as Rachel closed her locker "I was thinking about what you said at lunch, you know, about how you've never been on a date before?"

Rachel cringed "Yeah."

"I was thinking I could help you get ready or something."

"You want to help me?" She asked incredulously.

"Of course, silly." Brittany smiled wider.

"Okay…"

The blonde looped her arm through Rachel's as the two of them made their way to the parking lot. "So do you know where you're going tonight?"

"No. Does that matter?"

"Of course it matters! If you don't know where you're going how do you know what to wear?"

"I never thought about that." Rachel admitted.

Brittany shook her head, her blonde ponytail bouncing from side to side. "For a smart girl you don't know very much, do you?" Rachel just smiled indulgently at the ex-Cheerio.

* * *

"Whoa…" Brittany breathed as she got out of her car. She'd parked behind Rachel in the latter's four car driveway. "This is your house?"

Rachel looked up at the impressively sized abode. "All my life."

"Cool." The blonde smiled over at her. "With my mom and all my sisters around my house feels smaller than it really is."

Rachel smiled back at the tall girl wistfully as she unlocked the front door. "My dads are awesome, but they're not home a lot. I wish I had brothers or sisters running around... Noah's little sister is adorable."

"You met Puck's sister?"

Rachel nodded, confused. "You've never met her?"

Brittany shook her head. "Nope. I know Finn has, but he and Puck have been best friends for, like, ever… Santana met his mom once, I think. But the littlest Puckerman is a mystery. I don't think I even know her name…"

"Dani." Rachel supplied as she deposited her bag on the kitchen table. "Danica."

"That's a cool name." Brit replied, as she looked around the beautifully appointed kitchen. The island and countertops were made of deep blue granite and the cabinets and table and chairs were a dark wood. To balance out the dark there were stainless steel appliances and behind the sink a cheerful yellow and blue backsplash. There were fresh herbs growing in a planter on the windowsill and stainless steel pots and pans hung from a rack above the gas range.

"It means 'morning star' in Hebrew." Rachel offered lamely as Brittany wandered around.

"Your kitchen is awesome." The blonde stated. "Even I would cook if I had a kitchen like this."

"I love cooking."

"That's cool," Brittany smiled, "I don't really know how."

"It's really pretty easy." The blonde just nodded. "Do you want to see the rest of the house?" Rachel asked awkwardly.

"Sure." Brittany laughed.

The blonde gaped when they reached the dance studio in the basement. "Rachel, this place is so cool!"

Rachel nodded "Yeah, my dads-" It was her turn to gape when Brittany executed 3 perfect grand plies then extended her leg straight above her head. "Holy crap. Brit…"

Brit giggled "I know, right?"

"Does Mike know you can do that?" The blonde just wiggled her eyebrows. Then both girls burst into laughter. "Can you show me how to do that?"

"It's not really something you can teach… Are you bendy?"

Rachel nodded "I can do the splits; I just can't do them standing up."

"You could have been a Cheerio." Rachel just shook her head. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence Brittany lowered her leg and smiled. "We'll work on the standing splits thing." She looked over at Rachel with an eyebrow raised as they started up the stairs. "Is there anything else I should know about you?"

"I don't have a gag reflex." The brunette admitted.

"What?" Brittany asked, shocked. Rachel just shrugged and continued up the stairs. "You _cannot _tell Puck that."

* * *

"Just come out Rach!" Brittany called out as she went through the brunette's underwear drawer.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked, standing in the doorway of her walk in closet, her hands on her hips.

The ex-Cheerio turned around with a tiny scrap of black in one hand and a slightly larger scrap of red cotton in the other hand. "Do you want to sleep with him tonight?"

"What?" Rachel asked, her mouth hanging open in shock.

Brittany giggled as the blush spread across Rachel's cheeks and down her neck. "If you want him to see your underwear wear these," she held up the black thong, "and if you don't, wear these." She held up the red cotton boy shorts.

Rachel bit her lip nervously. "What if I'm not sure?"

Brittany furrowed her brow "Hmm… Go change, I'll find something."

The brunette frowned "What's wrong with this?" She looked down at the pink blouse, black skirt, pink knee highs, and black flats.

"Just change." Brittany ordered, turning back to the drawer. Rachel huffed and went back into the closet. "Oh my gosh! Rach, I got it!"

"Got what?" Rachel asked, poking her head out of the closet.

Brittany held up a sheer pair of purple lace boy shorts and a matching bra. "They're perfect. You can totally go to third base in these."

"Brit…"

"Just trust me Rach. You put them on and I'll find you the perfect outfit. Then we'll work on your hair and makeup."

"What's wrong with my hair?"

* * *

"Perfect." Brittany announced, looking Rachel up and down. "You'll totally, like, melt his brain."

Rachel barely recognized herself in the mirror. Her long dark hair was done in a loose fishtail braid that fell over herleft shoulder, with a few artfully placed tendrils framing her face and her eyes looked huge and dark, enhanced by the smoky eye makeup Brittany had applied. As for her outfit the two girls had decided on the gray jeans Santana had 'given' her, a lacy white camisole layered under an identical black one and a pair of purple flats –which matched the purple lingerie she wore. "What if I get cold?"

The blonde handed her a purple cardigan. "Take this, but don't wear it the whole time."

"Okay. I- Brit, thanks for helping me."

"No problem, Rach. That's what friends are for, right?"

Rachel's eyes stung with unshed tears when Brittany said the word friend –she refused to cry and risk ruining the makeup the blonde had painstakingly applied. "Yeah."

Brit grabbed her jacket and backpack as they walked through the kitchen towards the front door. "So I want _all _the details. Okay?"

Rachel smiled softly and nodded. "You'll be the first to know."

"Okay." The blonde smiled and started for her car. "Have fun!"

* * *

Rachel paced her kitchen nervously, rifled through her purse to make sure she had all the essentials –keys, phone, lip gloss- checked herself out in the shiny surface of the refrigerator and started the whole process over again. She was _so _nervous. This was her first date! She nearly jumped out of her skin when the doorbell rang.

She took several –what were supposed to be relaxing- breaths before heading for the front door. Pasting on her best smile she flung the door open. "Hi No-Finn. What are you doing here?"


	11. The Fucking Man

_Here you go, my fellow gleeks, chapter eleven. How many of you were stoked for the Puckleberry reunion tonight? They were **this **close. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to keep writing to keep their love alive. As always, please review, I love to hear your thoughts. Good or bad, but I usuall just hope for good. :) PS- is it just me or did Mark Salling look totally hot during Run Joey Run?_

**CHAPTER ELEVEN:**

**The Fucking Man**

"Hey Rachel." Finn said softly, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Can I come in?"

"I guess so." She stepped away from the doorway allowing the tall jock to enter her house. Crossing her arms over her chest Rachel just stared at him. "What are you doing here, Finn?"

"Uh, I'm not really sure… I-"

Rachel arched a brow when he trailed off "You?"

"I-" It was then that Finn noticed what Rachel was wearing, that she was all made up. "Wow, um, you look really nice Rach."

"Thank you." She waited out a few more beats of silence. "You still haven't told me what you're doing here."

Finn sighed "I heard that you were going on a date with Puck tonight."

She nodded. "And?"

"He told me you were his girlfriend." He blurted out.

She nodded again. "And?"

"And… Why, Rach?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you dating him? I thought that we- that you and me had something. Like a connection or something."

"I." Rachel corrected. "You and I."

"Yeah." Finn nodded eagerly, mistaking her correction of his grammar for an agreement.

"Look Finn," Rachel said warily, rubbing her temples in frustration, "You can't do this. It's not fair."

"What's not fair?"

"You! Coming here, talking about connections! It's not fair! You have a girlfriend. A pregnant girlfriend."

"I know, but-"

"No." Rachel cut him off. "There's no but. You were perfectly content with Quinn when I wanted you, but now that I don't you're not? That's not right. You can't have us both. And frankly it's come to my attention that I never really wanted you as much as I thought I did."

"What? But Rachel-"

The tiny diva just shook her head. "That's really all there is to it Finn. I enjoy singing with you in glee and I hope that we can remain friends, but I'd really like you to leave. My _boyfriend's_ coming to pick me up for our date and I'd really prefer for you to not be here when he does."

"But-"

Rachel all but shoved the football player out the door. "Goodbye Finn. I'll see you at school." She closed the door before he could say another word.

Taking a shaky breath Rachel sunk onto her living room couch. She pulled her legs up against her chest and rested her forehead on her knees. She wasn't going to cry.

* * *

Puck shifted nervously on Rachel's front porch. Taking a deep, steadying breath he knocked on the door. Why was he nervous? It's not like he'd never been on a date before…

Hearing Rachel's muffled voice yell out that 'the door was open' he pushed his way into the house. "Rachel?" Hearing a sniffle he turned toward the couch. "Rachel, baby, what's wrong?"

The brunette looked up her eyes were shiny and wet, but she hadn't shed a tear. She sniffled again as Puck started towards her, the small bouquet of lilies he'd bought for her held limply at his side. "You're sure I'm not in love with Finn, right?"

"Fuck." Puck swore to himself "What'd he do? I told him not to fucking mess with you anymore…" Kneeling in front of the couch Puck pulled Rachel's legs down, so they were on either side of his body, and looked her in the eye. He cupped the side of her face and stroked his thumb across her cheekbone tenderly. "You're not in love with Finn Hudson." Then pulling her forward he kissed her gently. "Okay?"

Rachel, eyes closed and her lips turned up in a dreamy smile, nodded. "Okay."

Puck smirked, he was kind of proud of the fact he could render her virtually speechless- _virtually_, because c'mon she was still Rachel Berry… "Fuckin' right."

Her eyes opened and her smile turned into a slight frown. "Noah, you know that expletives are just a vocabulary crutch, don't you?"

He quirked an eyebrow and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "English?"

"Stop cursing."

Puck rolled his eyes and kissed her briefly again, then he pushed himself off his knees and out of her way. Picking up the forgotten flowers Puck watched as the tiny brunette got up and adjusted her outfit.

Her jeans were riding dangerously low; right on the tilt of her hips, and her tops had ridden up revealing most of her toned stomach. "God, baby you look… fuck-" He didn't finish his sentence; as his girlfriend had pulled down her shirts, planted her hands on her hips, and was giving him her best 'what did I just tell you' look- one he was very familiar with. His mom was the goddamned queen of it. He thrust the flowers out, trying to distract her. It worked, obviously, because he was the fucking man. "Here."

"Noah," her whole face softened and she didn't so much say his name as breathed it "are those for me?" He just nodded lamely. She took the lilies held them up to her face and breathed them in. "No one's ever gotten me flowers before. Well, my dads, after a recital or a show, but that doesn't really count…" She sniffed at the flowers again and smiled up at him through her lashes. "Thank you." He nodded again. "I'm just going to put them in water and grab my purse, and then we can go." She stopped in the kitchen doorway and threw him a look over her shoulder. "Really Noah, thank you."

As she disappeared into the other room Puck stuffed his hands into his pockets and grinned. There was no way Rachel was in love with Finn fucking Hudson, she was all his and _damn_ if it didn't feel good. He was definitely the fucking man.

* * *

"Really, Noah," Rachel asked, shifting in her seat "where are we going?"

"Just relax, Berry." He pulled his truck into the parking lot of a small Italian restaurant, one Rachel knew her fathers loved and frequented on their date nights. Leaving the vehicle running Puck pulled off his seatbelt. "Wait here."

"What?" Rachel just blinked as Puck started getting out of the truck. "We're not going in?"

Puck just smirked. "Just wait here." Rachel huffed and crossed her arms over her chest; the jock couldn't help but leer. "Trust me babe. It'll be worth it."

Rachel couldn't help but crack a smile. "Don't call me babe."

"You like it." Puck teased. He shut his door and jogged toward the building. "Be right back!"

* * *

"I can't believe you left me sitting in the parking lot for 15 minutes by myself."

Puck sighed "I left the truck on, it's not like you were freezing or anything, plus when I came back you were totally rocking out to the radio."

Rachel pouted "At least tell me what you got from the restaurant."

"Not a chance." He smirked.

"Noah… Where are we?"

"My house."

"What-"

"Just come on." Puck stuffed his keys in his jacket pocket, grabbed the bag he'd picked up from the restaurant and hopped out of the truck. He waited for Rachel to get out and when she rounded the truck he grabbed her hand.

Instead of leading her into his house he took her around the side, to his backyard. When he opened the gate Rachel gasped. "Noah."

The Puckerman backyard wasn't huge, but it was beautiful. Rose Puckerman, Noah's mom, was quite the gardener, there were flowerbeds everywhere and even now, in the fall, they were a riot of colour and scent. But the best part was the tree, the one that grew next to Puck's bedroom window, was draped in fairy lights. The twinkly white lights cast a romantic glow that lit up the picnic blanket he'd set up below it. "And-" Puck announced, pulling a small remote control from his jacket pocket. He pointed it at his bedroom window and Rachel all but melted when Frank Sinatra started to play. "So, do you forgive me for making you sit in the parking lot by yourself?"

Rachel nodded and kissed him enthusiastically. "I didn't know you were so romantic."

Puck shrugged and started pulling food out of the takeout bag. "I'm not really, Mike helped me."

"Did he hang the lights?" Rachel asked, straight faced "'Cause I hear he's good at climbing trees."

Puck laughed "You know about that?" She nodded; a small smile on her face. She opened her mouth to say something else when her stomach rumbled. Loudly. Puck raised an eyebrow. "Hungry?"

"Starving."

30 minutes later the pasta, chicken parmesan, and the most delicious tiramisu Rachel had ever eaten were devoured and the two teenagers had pulled the blanket into the middle of the yard so they could stare up at the stars.

Puck was lying contentedly, with one hand under his head and the other wrapped around Rachel, his thumb idly stroking the strip of skin between her shirt and jeans. "You know, I'm pretty sure this is the best date I've ever been on."

Rachel tilted her head so she could look at him. "Really?"

"Yeah, well I'm not much of a 'dater'." He turned his head so they were looking at each other. "What about you?"

"This was my first date." The diva admitted softly.

"Like, ever?" Rachel nodded. "So how'm I doing?"

Rachel kissed the corner of his mouth. "Best ever."

"Good." He grunted squeezing her lightly.

"You're kind of a softie, aren't you?"

Puck growled and rolled over so he was on top of her. "Are you questioning my badassness _again_?"

Rachel bit her lip to keep from grinning at him. "Wanna make out?"


	12. Defying Gravity

_This one's a little shorter, sorry about that. I've been working on my other fic **Puckleberry, **which you guys should check out. Sorry about that shameless plug, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. ;) Thank you guys all so much for the reviews, I love hearing from you. Don't forget to review this chapter too!_

**CHAPTER TWELVE:**

**Defying Gravity**

Rachel and Puck were 10 minutes late for glee- Rachel was never late. The entire glee club, including Mr. Schue watched silently as the two barreled into the choir room. Rachel was trying to adjust her hair with one hand while dragging a smirking Puck along behind her with the other. "Sorry we're late, Mr. Schue."

Puck's smirk turned into a leer. "I'm not sorry. I didn't even want to come at all."

Rachel let go of his hand and slapped him lightly on the chest. "Noah!" She scolded.

The jock grinned, grabbed her hand again and led her to the seats Brittany had saved for them.

"Right!" Mr. Schue cleared his throat and clapped his hands "we've only got a few weeks 'til Sectionals. Any suggestions? We'll definitely need a standard; those usually go down well with the judges. And we need a ballad for sure… Third song's up to our discretion." He looked around the room. "Well?"

Rachel triumphantly pulled several sheets of paper out of her bag. "For the standard might I suggest-"

"Defying Gravity." Kurt cut her off. "It's one of my personal favorites and it might behoove us to do something out of the box and have _me_ sing it."

"The part's written for a woman Kurt." Rachel frowned.

The soprano shot Rachel a dirty look. "And I suppose you think your suggestion's so much better."

"Actually," Rachel said primly, "I was going to propose the same song."

"With yourself as lead."

Rachel just blinked. "Of course."

"Seriously Rachel," Kurt said crossing his arms over his chest angrily "you can't sing _every_ song."

"I don't sing every song," Rachel insisted "but I want to sing _this_ song." She imitated the soprano and crossed her arms over her chest.

Puck grinned as the action caused the fabric of her shirt to gape open. Red bra. Score.

"I demand you give me a chance to sing!" Kurt shouted at Mr. Schue, springing up out of his chair.

Rachel glared at their teacher "Mr. Schuster, the song was written for a _woman_, plus my vocal ability is far superior. _I_ can reach all the high notes."

Kurt gasped indignantly and stomped out of the choir room, followed quickly by Mercedes.

Rachel was about to follow suit when Puck grabbed her hand and tugged her back into her seat. "Babe, Beyonce already stormed out, just sit down and let's get on with practice."

"Fine." The diva acquiesced.

Puck draped his arm across the back of her chair triumphantly. He glared when he noticed Finn making his puppy dog eyes at Rachel. "Hudson!" he snapped "Keep your eyes on your own girlfriend!"

"Right…" Mr. Schue said after about a minute of uneasy silence. "So we need a ballad…"

"Why do we need a duck?" Brittany asked innocently.

The room erupted into laughter as Rachel and Mike tried to explain to Brittany the difference between a ballad and a Mallard. Rachel further explained that a male duck was actually called a drake, but no one really cared.

Nobody noticed Quinn sitting in the back row, seething as she glared at Puck and Rachel and slowly rubbed her baby bump.

* * *

Rachel slammed her locker door shut and glared when Puck laughed. "It's not funny, Noah!"

"Sure it is babe." Puck smirked, leaning back against the bank of lockers. "You're just mad you got out divaed."

"I am not a diva!" She exclaimed haughtily.

"I hate to break it to ya, Rach," Mike disagreed "but you kinda are. It's not a _bad_ thing!" He added hastily when she turned her glare on him.

"I don't get it." Brittany announced cutting Rachel off before she could rant at the Asian dancer about her diva status, outlining a carefully constructed list she'd created the last time someone had called her a diva.

"Get what, Brit?" Rachel asked.

"Why can't you and Kurt just sing the song together?"

"Rocky and Beyonce together?" Santana scoffed from where she was leaning against her boyfriend.

"Why not?" Matt asked agreeing with the ex-Cheerio. "It doesn't have to be a solo, does it?"

Rachel grinned widely as Puck draped an arm about her shoulders and the six of them left the school. "Brittany!" She grabbed the blonde's arm excitedly "You're a genius."

"Really?" she asked "Could you tell my mom that? Maybe then she'd stop bugging me about my grades…"

Mike chuckled and kissed his girlfriend's temple. Then he, Matt, and Puck involved themselves in a complicated three way handshake that caused the girls to roll their eyes. "See ya man."

"Chang." Puck acknowledged his friend.

"Bye Rach."

"Bye Mike. Brit."

"Rutherford."

"Bye guys." Matt grinned, leading Santana towards his car.

"Wait!" Brittany stopped suddenly. "Rachel, you and Puck are coming to Santana's party after the football game tomorrow night, right?"

"I wasn't aware Santana was having a party." Rachel replied.

The blonde looked between her two brunette friends. "San?"

Matt nudged his girlfriend when she pursed her lips, but didn't answer right away. "San…"

"I suppose you can come, Rocky, but only if you dress normal."

"Gee, thanks Lopez." Puck sneered.

Matt just shrugged. "Later."

* * *

"So why's Brittany a genius?" Puck asked as he pulled out of the school parking lot.

"You'll see." Rachel grinned as she pulled out her cell phone. "Mercedes," she greeted when the fashionista answered, "let me talk to Kurt."

"I don't think so, white girl."

Rachel rolled her eyes "Tell him to stop being such a drama queen. I have a proposition for him."

"Me?" Kurt suddenly screeched into the phone "You're calling _me_ a drama queen?"

"Honestly Kurt," Rachel sighed in exasperation "just hear me out."

"I don't really want to hear anything you have to say, song stealer-"

Rachel rolled her eyes again "_Please_. You know I was born to be Elphaba."

Puck just shook his head, grinning at his girlfriend's '_bitch, please'_ tone. "What's the proposition?" Kurt finally asked.

"A duet."

"What?"

"Defying Gravity, it was originally a duet."

"Rachel-"

"I'll let you have the note." Rachel cut him off.

"What?"

"The high note. If you think you can hit it," she closed her eyes as if she was in pain "it's yours."

"Deal." Kurt said quickly. "We are going to _own_ Sectionals! I'll see you tomorrow at school, Princess."

Rachel sighed when hung up the phone. "So you're gonna share the spotlight?"

"I suppose."

Puck grinned, grabbed her hand and squeezed it slightly. "I'm proud of you, babe."

"Whatever," Rachel shrugged, opening her eyes "if he screws up that note _once_, it's mine."

Puck laughed "That's my girl." He turned back to the road, but after a few minutes of silence he looked back over at her. "Hey Rach?"

"Yeah?"

"What's an Elphaba?"


	13. Kind of a Bitch

_Sorry 'bout the brief hiatus, folks. I was working on my story **Beyond Wasted** be sure to check it out. :) No Puckleberry in this chapter, but the next one will be full of it. Scout's honor. Remember to review. Please?_

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN:**

**Kind of a Bitch**

Quinn sat in Sue Sylvester's office; her legs crossed daintily at the ankle, hands resting lightly on her small baby bump and a cruel smile on her face. "You're sure about this?" the Cheerio's coach asked.

"Absolutely." Quinn answered emotionlessly. "Those gleeks are getting a littlle too uppity. Thinking they can get away with dating jocks…" She shook her head.

Sue clasped her hands and rested them on her desk "If this is about your baby daddy drama-"

"It's not." Quinn snapped. She stood up slowly and slapped a piece of paper on the desk.

"What's this?"

"I don't know what Mr. Schue gave you, but that's the set list for sectionals."

"Hmm…" The coach smirked as she looked over the list, "so, Curly Sue thought he could get one over on me, did he? Good work, Fabray. Maybe you do have what it takes to get back on the squad."

The former head Cheerio shot the coach a look over her shoulder "Start with Brittany."

"Wright? I thought she was your friend." Sue sneered.

"Is she a Cheerio?" She didn't wait for the tall teacher to answer her "Then she's not my friend."

"Lopez won't be happy."

Quinn just shrugged and walked out the door.

Looking down at the sectionals set list Sue smirked; maybe she had a protégé in that one yet.

* * *

It was between first and second period and Rachel was walking down the hallway with her history textbook clutched to her chest, humming Defying Gravity under her breath. She let out a yelp when an arm reached out and pulled her into the girl's room.

"Not the nose!" She cried, shutting her eyes tightly.

"Rach?"

"Brit?" the diva opened her eyes at the sound of her friend's voice. She tried to stifle her gasp with her hand. "Oh, Brit, what happened?"

The blonde looked at Rachel through her drenched bangs, purple ice melting and dripping down her face. "I got slushied."

Rachel pulled out her cell phone and pressed the speed dial "Kurt?" She waited as the soprano droned on about their duet "Kurt!" she finally interrupted "Focus. We've got a code purple, second floor washroom." She sent Brittany another sympathetic glance as she slipped her phone back into her pocket and led the blonde over to the sink. "Lean back, Brit, I'll get some of the slushie out of your hair."

"What's a code purple?" Brittany asked as Rachel gently massaged her scalp. "Oh," she said in realization as a drop of purple liquid rolled down her cheek "I get it." She sighed as Rachel continued her ministrations "You know; you're really good at this Rach…"

Rachel smiled softly "I've had lots of practice." She cut the blonde off before she could say anything else "Who did this to you, Brit?"

"What's the emergency, Princess?" Kurt asked as he breezed into the girl's room, interrupting before Rachel could get an answer "I thought those Neanderthals had stopped with the facials since you wrapped _Noah_ around your-" he stopped when he saw Rachel rinsing the ex-Cheerio's hair. "Oh my… B, are you okay, sweetie?"

"Yeah," Brittany smiled from her seat in front of the sink "Rachel's really good at this. She could be, like, a professional head massager, or something when she grows up."

Rachel chuckled at Brittany's praise. "Thanks Brit, but I've got other plans for when I grow up."

Brittany just shrugged good naturedly and smiled again when Kurt handed her a towel. "Too bad." She wrapped the towel around her drenched hair and looked from Rachel to Kurt and back again "Did you know that slushies sting your eyes?"

"Yeah, B," Kurt chuckled gingerly wrapping an arm around her, vainly trying to avoid any of the melted purple ice, "we know." The tall boy looked over his shoulder at Rachel "Find Santana." He mouthed, causing a shiver to run down the brunette's spine. Whoever was responsible for this was _in for it_.

* * *

"Excuse me Mr. Neilson," Rachel said primly as she knocked on the door of Santana's math class, "I need to speak with Santana Lopez."

"Miss Lopez hasn't graced us with her presence yet today." The overweight teacher said boredly.

"I see." Rachel replied, exchanging glances with Mercedes, who was also in the class. "Well, I'm sorry to have bothered you."

Mercedes stood up as Rachel left "I need hit the washroom."

Mr. Neilson rolled his eyes and waved dismissively at her "I'm sure you do, Miss Jones."

Mercedes gathered her stuff quickly and was out the door before Puck- who was also in the class- could ask her what was up. "Rachel?"

"Mercedes, we need to find Santana. Brittany got slushied."

"What?" the black girl asked angrily "Someone slushied on Barbie? That's just not right."

"I agree," Rachel nodded "which is why-" then for the second time in fifteen minutes the tiny diva felt herself being tugged into one of the school's washrooms. "Ow." She complained, rubbing her arm "Why do people insist on- oh…" Rachel trailed off as she took in a furious Santana, one who was covered in melting blue slushie.

"Berry." The cheerleader said evenly.

"Oh, Santana-" Rachel pulled the Latina into a hug; not caring about the girl's intimidating glare or the sticky blue liquid covering her.

Mercedes burst into the ladies room seconds later "Rachel?" She took in the sight of Rachel cradling the normally menacing Cheerio against her, slushie and all. "What the hell?"

"Mercedes," Rachel said softly, "go grab a towel for Santana while I help her get the slushie out of her hair." The fashionista nodded and hurried out of the washroom.

Rachel led the stunned Cheerio- _nobody_ hugged her, except for Brit who had been her best friend since forever and sometimes Matt, when she allowed it- to the sink and gently pushed her into the chair she'd pulled from against one of the walls. "I always wondered why the chairs were in here…"

Rachel smiled wryly "We gleeks have made good use of them."

"Why are you being so nice to me Rachel?"

Rachel shrugged as she rinsed the ice out of Santana's hair. "No one deserves to be slushied." She said softly. She was the one who was stunned this time, when the Hispanic cheerleader burst into tears. "Santana?" Rachel stood uneasily as the other girl threw her arms around her and sobbed against her stomach.

Mercedes cleared her throat awkwardly when she reentered the room, towel in hand. "Um, I-"

"Why don't you leave the towel and go find Kurt and Brittany?" Rachel suggested as she pushed Santana's head back and went back to cleaning the girl's hair. "Tell them we'll meet in the parking lot, by my car."

"Sure." Mercedes left hastily, a little freaked out by Santana's break down.

"Why's Brit with Hummel?" Santana asked once she'd regained her composure.

"She got slushied too." Rachel answered honestly.

"_What_?" Rachel just nodded sadly as Santana toweled her hair dry. Santana sighed suddenly. "Look Rachel, I don't say this often, but I'm sorry." When the diva didn't respond to Santana's mumbled admission the head Cheerio fidgeted uncomfortably. "Look, I know I'm a bitch, okay? I'm sorry I ever slushied you. You're- you're a nice person, for a psycho diva anyway."

Rachel ignored the last part of the apology and smiled tentatively at the cheerleader. "You called me by my first name. Not Rocky, or Berry… You only call Brittany by her first name… and Matt too, I guess."

"I call my friends by their names." Santana snapped. "Now what am I going to do about my uniform? I believe you owe me a pair of jeans."

Rachel shrugged "I stopped bringing a second set of clothes when Noah and I started dating again, but I could take you home, or to the mall."

Santana raised an eyebrow "_You_ are gonna skip school?"

Rachel smirked in return "Anything for a _friend_, right?"

Santana laughed at the girl's unexpected use of sarcasm. "You know, you're kind of a bitch too... Did you know that? I think this friend thing might work after all." Rachel just laughed. "So are you going to the game before my party tonight? 'Cause I think Brit wants to go, but she doesn't want to sit alone."

"I don't know much about football." The brunette admitted as they headed for the parking lot.

Santana shrugged. "You think Brit does?"

The two girls glanced at each other before bursting into laughter. Maybe this friendship thing _would_ work out…


	14. One Thing I Learned

_Here you go folks, the next chapter, this one's a little longer than usual. Thank you for all the reviews so far, keep them coming they make me want to write faster for you! :)_

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN:**

**One Thing I Learned**

If there were two things Rachel was surprised to learn about herself they were first; that she _liked_ football- no really, she really enjoyed herself at the game. Sure, she'd googled the rules before she'd gone, but even with just the most basic of knowledge she'd liked the violence of the game- if you told anyone she'd deny it until her dying day- and the camaraderie of the crowd. Plus, hanging out with Brittany for any length of time was always entertaining.

The second thing she'd learned was that she couldn't taste alcohol. It didn't seem to matter how much vodka Santana mixed with her orange juice, it all just tasted like orange juice…

* * *

Brittany learned a few things on Friday. She learned that football was _confusing_. It was a lot different watching the game from the stands than it was sitting on the sidelines listening to Coach Sylvester constantly berate her and the rest of the Cheerios.

She learned that it was a lot better sitting in the stands bundled up in jeans, a sweater, and a jacket then freezing her ass off in her tiny cheerleading uniform.

And she learned that Rachel Berry was fun. The two of them had had a good time sitting next to each other, snuggled together under a single blanket, watching the football game- she hardly used any big words at all, and even though Rachel had dumbed down her speech she hadn't made Brittany feel like an idiot. But they'd _really_ had fun once they'd hit Santana's party.

* * *

Puck also discovered a few things on Friday night.

a) He really loved- he meant _liked_- having his girlfriend cheer him on during the game. Sure when he'd dated Santana she'd cheered him on _every_ game, but she was a cheerleader she had too. Rachel was there just for him, it made his stomach do a weird fluttery thing every time he looked up and she smiled and waved at him.

b) Rachel could _party_. She drank Finn- not that was hard, fucker could not hold his alcohol- and Matt- which _was_ hard, 'cause for a smaller guy he could definitely drink- under the table and if he had his facts straight it was her first time. _So hot…_

c) Rachel Berry was a horny drunk. Enough said.

* * *

Mike walked in on Puck and the horny, drunk Rachel Berry. Enough said.

* * *

"Brittany." Rachel said seriously turning toward the blonde as the game was winding down. McKinley had lost horribly, as usual, though they had managed to score one touchdown, courtesy of Finn Hudson and one Noah 'Puck' Puckerman.

"What's up, Rach?"

"What do I wear to Santana's party?"

Brittany frowned "Have you never been to a party before?"

"I've been to parties." Rachel said indignantly, she would have stomped her foot had she been standing.

"Like, without your dads? Like a high school party?"

"Well no."

Brittany smiled and slung an arm about her shoulders. "We'll wait for San and then we can all get ready together. We can pre-drink and get all prettified." Rachel winced. "You've never drank before, have you?" the blonde guessed.

"I've had wine before." Rachel insisted.

Brit shot her a disbelieving glance "And?"

Rachel sighed "And it was horrible so I poured it into a plant and pretended I drank it."

Brittany giggled "We have so much to teach you, Rachel Berry."

* * *

Rachel and Brittany were leaning up against Rachel's car talking when Santana strutted up to them, her Cheerio's bag slung over her shoulder. "What's up bitches?"

There was a third thing Rachel had learned that day- she wasn't really surprised by it though. Once Santana claimed you there was nothing you could do, you were _hers_. When they'd skipped school that afternoon- Brittany, Santana, and Rachel, Kurt and Mercedes had both gone back to class- it was as if there'd never been any animosity to start with, like they'd all been best friends for years.

There'd been giggling and secret sharing and trying on clothes; girlfriend stuff. All three of them had been in the same dressing room at one point- it was a long story, involving hiding from Santana's loudmouthed cousin who worked at the mall. Rachel giggled at the field day Noah would have with that information.

"Rachel?" Brittany asked, curious about the brunette's laughter.

Rachel blushed "I was just thinking about how Noah would react when- _if_- he found out the three of us shared the change room at Victoria's Secret this afternoon."

Santana smirked at her friend's confession "Oh, he is _so_ finding out." She tossed her bag into the backseat of Rachel's car, after the diva unlocked the doors, then she slid in after it "So what's the deal tonight?"

"We're going to Rachel's first." Brittany informed her "She's having a clothes meltdown."

"I would hardly call it a meltdown…" Rachel argued as she started the car.

"She's never been to a party." Brittany ignored her, twisting around so she could exchange glances with Santana.

"Really?"

"She's never even had alcohol."

"What?" Rachel's eyes met Santana's in the rearview mirror and she shrugged. The Latina just shook her head "We are so getting you wasted tonight." Rachel started to protest, but Santana just raised an eyebrow. "No arguments Rocky."

"We should get her laid too." Brittany piped up.

"What?" Rachel screeched, nearly swerving into the other lane. "Noah and I have only been together a week, I don't think-"

"Please," Santana scoffed, "Puck is retarded over you. You could probably convince him to make out with _Hummel_ by just batting your fucking eyelashes at him. It's disgusting."

"He showed up to _math_ on Wednesday." Brittany divulged.

"See?"

"Just because I mentioned he could easily get into college if he applied himself-"

"He hasn't been to math class in over a year, Berry." Santana cut her off.

"You could probably get him to make out with _Coach Sylvester_ if you told him about the gag reflex thing." Brittany added as they pulled into Rachel's driveway.

"Why in the world would I want my boyfriend to make out with all these people that aren't me?"

Brittany shrugged. "We're just saying you could convince him to do pretty much anything." Santana responded as they entered Rachel's house. "Nice place, Berry."

"Thanks." The brunette led the two other girls upstairs to her bedroom.

"What gag reflex thing?" Santana asked suddenly, looking between Rachel and Brittany.

"I don't have one." Rachel answered nonchalantly.

"What?" the head Cheerio's eyes widened comically "You could get him to fucking serenade the entire football team with It's Raining Men with that shit."

"Why would I want Noah to do all these things?" Rachel asked as Brittany and Santana rifled through her closet.

"It's a power thing." Santana answered stepping out of the closet with a skimpy red halter top in her hand. "This is hot, can I borrow it?"

Rachel shrugged; no one had ever asked to borrow her clothes before. "Sure."

"Sweet." Planting her hands on her hips she turned back to the closet. "So what'd ya find Brit?"

The blonde exited the closet with her arms full of clothes, she could barely see over them. "Let's go over to your place and get ready, San, that way we can start getting Rachel drunk."

Santana nodded her agreement. "Let's do it."

* * *

Puck, Matt, and Mike rolled up to Santana's house together in Puck's truck. "Why am I here again?" Puck groaned as he turned off his truck. "This is the last night Rachel's dads are gone and Santana clearly didn't really want us to come…"

Matt shrugged "Come on man, you know you can leave whenever you want."

"Yeah Puck," Mike practically bounced up to the front door "you scored the only touchdown of the game; you have to at least make an appearance at the party."

Puck groaned again as they walked into the house. "I don't think you guys understand, her dads are gone. In New York City. Far away-"

He was cut off when Brittany flounced up to them "Hi guys," she greeted sunnily.

"Hey Brit." The trio smiled back at her. Mike leaned in and gave her a kiss. "What's going on?"

Brittany smirked and grabbed Puck and Mike's hands "Come with me, you guys have got to see this."

When they rounded the corner into the kitchen the first thing they saw was Santana, sporting a red halter top and a pair of dark skinny jeans, presiding over a drinking contest.

Azimio, a big 250 pound defensive tackle stood with 5 shots of vodka in front of him. He was gripping the side of the island tightly, Puck noted that the senior football player would probably fall over if he let go, and two more of their teammates stood behind him leaning heavily against the wall. His opponent was a tiny bit of a thing leaning nonchalantly against the counter her impossibly long legs crossed daintily at the ankle. He'd know those legs- and that ass- anywhere. "Rachel?"

The brunette twisted her head and beamed at them. "Noah! And Mike and Matt, you guys are here!" She looked back at Azimio and rolled her eyes "One second. San?"

Santana grinned "On it Rach," the cheerleader looked disdainfully over at the jock "you ready, _King of the Shots_?"

Brittany giggled at the obvious sarcasm dripping from Santana's mouth and bounded over to her two friends. "Go Rach!"

"Yeah, kick his ass Rocky." Santana added.

"Santana," Rachel scolded, although there was a mischievous glint in her eyes and a smirk on her lips, "you're supposed to be impartial."

The Latina rolled her eyes "Whatever, just kick his ass before he pukes in my kitchen."

Matt, Puck, and Mike exchanged confused glances, since when did Santana and Rachel get along? Brittany just leaned against Santana giggling. "Dude," Matt looked over at Mike, "your girlfriend's drunk." Mike just sighed and nodded.

"One. Two. Three. Go."

The three boys watched in open mouthed wonder as Rachel downed her five shots before Azimio could finish his second. "She wins again!" Brittany clapped.

The three girls laughed and high fived each other, "Team Diva is the official winner." Santana declared, glaring at the three defeated football players. "No more rematches. And if you three throw up in my house, so help me, I will hunt you down and make you clean every inch of this place." Then her scary look faded as she walked up to Matt and planted a kiss on his lips. "Hey baby."

"Hey San." Matt smiled goofily down at his girlfriend.

He was so pussy whipped, Puck snorted, and then his stomach did that weird fluttery thing when Rachel started toward him. She leaned up on her tip toes and kissed him lightly. "Hi."

"What the hell was that?"

"I was doing shots." Rachel informed him "Why? Did I not do it right?" She looked over at Santana who rolled her eyes.

"You did them right." The cheerleader reassured her.

"Let's go dance." Brittany said suddenly.

The others started following her towards the living room when all of a sudden Puck grabbed Rachel by the waist and hauled her down a hallway. "Noah!" She exclaimed as he pushed her into a room. When he flipped the lights on they discovered that it was the bathroom.

"Whatever…" He muttered as he buried his hands in her hair and dragged her up for a kiss. Rachel felt the kiss all the way to her toes. It was hot and bruising and demanding "I liked seeing you in the stands, cheering for me." He mumbled as he lifted her up and sat her on the counter.

"Oh," Rachel teased wrapping her legs around his waist "you thought I was cheering for you?"

"Rachel…" he growled.

She smiled at him and using all the muscles in her legs she pulled him against her. "Kiss me again."

"Yes ma'am." Puck grinned.

* * *

Mike was having a great time dancing with his girlfriend- a drunken Brittany was a grindy Brittany, after all. He was pretty sure he was getting laid tonight and from the way Santana and Matt were making out on the dance floor things were looking good for his best friend too. That's when Brittany stopped. "Brit?"

"Where's Rachel? San, Rachel's still gone!"

Much to Matt's disappointment that announcement caused Santana to pull away from him. Santana leered at her best friend "Do you think she told him?"

"Which thing?" Brittany giggled.

"Either."

"We need to find Rachel." Brittany announced.

"What?" Mike asked "Why?"

"Cause we promised we wouldn't let her sleep with Puck tonight." Santana answered. "She wants to save it or something." She cut Matt off before he could even ask her why. And with that both Brittany and Santana were off.

Matt and Mike exchanged glances before following the girls. "Puck's going to kill us." Mike mumbled. Matt just nodded his agreement.

Mike was the one who found them. After finding the bathroom unlocked he swung the door open. He wished he'd knocked.

A shirtless Puck had Rachel wrapped around his waist and pinned up against the wall. Rachel's shirt was pushed up and sat right below her breasts. She was fumbling with Puck's belt, while he attacked her neck with his teeth.

"Jesus Christ!" He swore, shutting his eyes.

"Mike?" Rachel asked, hazily.

"What the fuck, Chang?"

"Santana and Brittany sent me to find her."

"They did?" Rachel asked, pulling down her shirt and motioning for Puck to set her back on the floor. "Is everything alright?"

Mike shrugged, his eyes still closed, "They just sent me and Matt to find you."

Rachel leaned up to peck her boyfriend on the lips. "I better go find out what's going on."

"Jesus fuck, Chang." Puck growled when she was out of earshot. He quickly pulled his t-shirt back on and shook his head when he noticed that Mike's eyes were still closed. "Open your damn eyes, dude, you're not gonna see anything, she's gone."

Mike opened his eyes and grinned sheepishly at Puck "Sorry, man."

Puck sighed and rubbed a hand over his mohawk. "Seriously, what the hell?"

"I don't know," this time Mike sighed, "it was some girly pact Rachel, Santana, and Brittany made."

"I'm not sure I'm going to like those three being bff's or whatever." Puck punched the Asian dancer in the arm on his way past him "At least knock next time."

"Trust me," Mike responded as he followed his friend "if there's one thing I learned tonight, it's always knock."


	15. Our Bitch

_Much thanks for the reviews, readers. It always makes my heart feel good to see 'review' in my inbox. Therese Jane- the bff's ruling the world comment? Loved it, I feel the same thing so it definitely got incorporated._

_Anyway, sorry it's been awhile folks, I just got some serious news- medically speaking- and I'm waiting to hear back from a neurosurgeon about an operation I need to get on my neck, so I've been kinda freaked out. I'll be fine, but updates might be kinda sparodic for awhile. I'm going on vacation next week- literally it's watch the season finale of Glee, hit the sheets, then head out uber early- so it'll be at least a week._

_I heart you guys, really. Keep the reviews coming, they make me feel better. ;)_

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN:**

_**Our**_** Bitch**

Unfortunately for Puck, Mike, and Matt after the hot Jewish couple had been discovered in the bathroom the party picked up right where it had left off; with their girlfriends attached at the hip. The three jocks were sitting on the couch nursing some beers, watching- and glaring evilly at anyone else that happened to be watching- their girlfriends giggling and dancing on the makeshift dance floor.

"When did this happen?" Puck asked, a little conflicted, as Santana grinded against Rachel, who in turn grinded back against Brittany. He was conflicted because, honestly? His girlfriend dancing with the sexy head cheerleader and leggy, blonde dancer _hot as shit_, but it was seriously cutting into his making out time. And he was determined to view her tattoo before her dads got back from New York; it was his latest goal- and Rachel was all about goals.

"When did what happen?" Matt asked taking a long pull from his beer.

"The whole Santana, Brittany, Rachel best friends for life thing." Puck clarified, motioning to the girls. "Not that it's not _way_ better than Santana, Brittany, and Quinn…" Neither Matt nor Mike said anything, but Puck knew they agreed with him. Quinn was a bitch, Rachel was cool- sort of.

"I dunno." Matt shrugged.

Mike nearly spit out his mouthful of beer when Rachel, sliding her hands down Santana's body, lowered herself until her ass was like an inch off the floor spun on her heel and dragged herself up Brittany's body. "Jesus Christ… Did you know she could dance like that?"

Puck shook his head and groaned. "No."

"Why are you _here_ again?" Matt asked eyes wide.

"Because I scored the only touchdown of the game and you fuckers made me come." Puck growled.

* * *

"Did he see?" Rachel asked, turning around so her face was inches from Santana's and her ass was mashed up against Brittany's thighs.

The Latina laughed as Puck glared at her; she leaned forward so that she and her former nemesis were cheek-to-cheek, then winking at Puck she whispered in Rachel's ear. "He definitely saw."

"I thought you didn't want to sleep with him tonight." Brittany said, a look of confusion on her face.

Rachel shrugged and smirked over her shoulder at the blonde. "There's nothing wrong with teasing him a little bit, is there?"

Santana threw her head back and laughed again "Rachel Berry, cocktease." Rachel's mouth dropped open and she was about to protest when Santana grinned wickedly at her. "The three of us are going to _own the world_."

Rachel looked over her shoulder at Brittany, who was smiling, and the three girls burst into laughter.

* * *

Puck shifted in his seat as he watched the girls giggling together. "That's it." He shoved his empty beer bottle into Matt's hands and started to get up when Mike stopped him.

"You know Brit's gonna send us looking for you guys again."

"Fucking girly pact…" Puck swore. "You assholes can distract your girlfriends for at least an hour, can't you?"

"Hey! Fuck you Puckerman!" Matt retorted.

"Half an hour." Mike promised. Puck began to walk away when Mike called out his name.

"What?"

"Lock the door this time, man."

Puck gave his laughing friends the finger, walked over to the dancing girls, grabbed Rachel's arm and pulled her away without saying a word.

* * *

Santana huffed as she plopped down into Matt's lap. "Puck's such an asshole."

"You were practically dry humping Rachel on the dance floor." Matt pointed out as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist.

"Please," she scoffed as Brittany settled herself in Mike's lap and handed Santana a new drink, "you know I only tried that shit with Brit once and for some reason I prefer your crazy ass."

Matt grinned and kissed her temple. "Are we talking about sex?" Brit asked. Santana nodded. "Oh, well, I do love you San, but Mike has a huge-"

The Asian boy clapped a hand over his girlfriend's mouth "Brittany!"

Santana smirked "So it's not true what they say about Asian guys then?"

Mike glared at her. "You're a bitch, San."

The Latina shrugged "I know, it's awesome. You know who else is a bitch? Rachel."

"Santana!" Mike scolded. "I thought you guys were friends with Rachel now."

"We are." Brittany responded.

"Yeah," Santana added, "Rocky's _our_ bitch." Matt just shook his head in amusement. "It's a good thing." She insisted.

Brit nodded frantically in agreement. "Yeah, we're gonna rule the world together."

"Own the world." Santana corrected with a fond smile on her lips.

"How did that happen anyway?" Mike asked.

"How did what happen?"

"How did you and San and Rachel all become best friends forever, or whatever?" Matt clarified.

The blonde and the brunette exchanged glances. "She's nice." Brittany hedged.

"And she's kinda cool when she's not being all diva psycho." Santana shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. "She was pretty fun when we were at the mall today."

"You guys got _Rachel_ to skip class?" Mike asked incredulously. "Rachel Berry?"

"She made _us_ skip class." Brittany informed them.

"What?"

"San and I needed new outfits."

"Brittany…" Santana warned the blonde.

"Santana," Matt said quietly, nudging his girlfriend so she was looking at him, "what happened today?"

Santana may have been a straight up bitch, but if there's one thing she wasn't it was a liar. And she especially couldn't lie to Matt, maybe that's why she'd chosen the quiet football player in the first place… "We both got slushied today." She admitted quietly.

"What?"

"_Who_?" Mike asked angrily.

Brittany shrugged, locked her arms around Mike's neck and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I don't know, I didn't see."

"Me neither."

"I'm gonna fucking-"

"Matt," Santana shifted her weight as he attempted to stand beneath her "just let it go."

"But-"

"Listen," she placated him, "We don't know who threw the slushies. _Yet_. When we do they'll beg for their life, but for now it's a party. Let's have fun."

Matt grumbled, but relented. Whoever slushied _his_ girl was going to pay. Santana rolled her eyes as Matt retreated into his silent brooding mode. Downing the rest of her drink she leaned over so her lips were against his ear. "You need to relax, baby. Take me upstairs so I can tell you what Brit, Rach and I were doing in the same change room at Victoria's Secret this afternoon."

Matt blinked and a slow grin spread across his face, he hoisted Santana over his shoulder and glanced back at a surprised looking Mike and a knowing Brittany. "We'll be back in," he glanced down at his watch "23 minutes." He turned around and Santana looked up and waved at them.

"Okay!" Brittany said cheerfully, watching them ascend the stairs, "We're just gonna make out on the couch!"

"We are?" Mike asked, grinning at his girlfriend. Brittany just nodded.

* * *

"Noah!" Rachel exclaimed as he dragged her down the same darkened hallway as before "What are you doing?"

Puck bypassed the washroom and pushed into the next room. Santana's dad's study, score, there was a really kick ass couch in here. Not that he'd tell Rachel how he knew that… "What am I doing? What the fuck are you doing? Dancing like that… Do you know how many fucking guys were watching you?"

Rachel fought to hide a smirk. "What? Noah! How can you-"

Puck had been watching her carefully and caught the slight twitch of her lips before she could hide it. "You dirty little minx."

"What are you talking about?"

Striding towards her he backed her up against the wall. "You were doing it on purpose."

"Doing what on purpose?"

He smirked and planted his hands on either side of her head "You're a tease."

She locked her arms around his neck and pressed herself up against him "And you're wasting time. Brit and San are gonna come after us soon."

He hoisted her up and grinned when she wrapped her legs around his waist. "Why did you make that stupid pact in the first place?"

She nipped at his lips, smirking when he growled and kissed her again. "Because I'm drunk. And the first time we get past third base I'm not going to be drunk."

Pressing her back against the wall Puck began raining kisses down her neck. "We're gonna get to third base tonight?"

Rachel tightened her legs around him and ground her hips against his. "Not if you don't hurry up."

He groaned and turned around, Rachel still clinging to his waist, "Where's the fucking couch?"

* * *

"Matt," Mike warned as he, Matt, Santana, and Brittany stood outside Santana's dad's study- it was the only room in the house they hadn't checked, Santana had been livid when they'd walked in on Heather the skanky Cheerio and Karofsky going at it in her little brother's bedroom. Seriously, who'd invited the hockey team jerkoffs anyway? "I'm telling you, man, don't go in. Just knock."

"Whatever, dude. It's _Rachel_, how far is she gonna let Puck go while there's a party going on?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Santana glared at her boyfriend, planting her hands on her hips.

"Nothing baby."

"It's been a half an hour." Brittany declared "Someone's going in there."

Matt steeled his shoulders and grinned slyly at Santana. "I'm going in, I've got to thank Rachel for, uh-" he cleared his throat when Santana glared at him again, "stuff."

Brittany gasped when Matt wrenched the door open and Mike slapped his hands over her eyes. "Oh, come on Mike, it's nothing I haven't seen before."

"Mike?" Puck looked up from the couch and groped around the floor for his jeans. "I swear to fucking God, Chang, if that's you-"

"It was Matt!" Mike squeaked, sliding behind Santana.

"Manly, Chang." the Cheerio snorted. "Puckerman, you better not have stained my dad's couch."

"Fuck off, Lopez."

"Noah-" Rachel started.

"Just wait a second, babe, I've gotta kill my boys right now. It won't take long."

"Hey-" Brittany cut off Mike's protest with a quick elbow to the ribs.

"Well, would you kindly hand me my shirt first? Before the boobs you've worked so hard to get to are seen by _everyone_?"

"That's _our_ bitch." Santana grinned at Brittany.

"So," Puck asked once he and Rachel were both fully clothed "whose ass do I have to kick first?"

Matt rolled his eyes at Mike- who was still cowering behind Santana- and strode into the room towards his two friends. He stopped right in front of Rachel and winked at her "San told me about the gag reflex thing," Rachel's mouth dropped open in shock and she glanced over at Noah. Fortunately Matt had spoken so softly her boyfriend hadn't heard.

"Rutherford?"

"And the slushie thing," He reached out and grabbed Rachel and pulled her forward so he could plant a firm kiss on her lips, "so thanks." Then he grinned cheekily at Puck- who looked murderous. "I guess you can start with me."

Rachel gaped as Matt spun around and sprinted out of the room, followed quickly by Mike. "You better fucking run!" Puck yelled before chasing after his two teammates.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Boys."

"You told Matt?" Rachel demanded.

"Yep." Santana grinned "And then he received the best blow job of his life, because never let it be said someone can do sex better than Santana Lopez."

"Santana!" Rachel gasped, scandalized.

Brittany just giggled "Let's go get another drink."


	16. I Hate You

_I just want to note that I do know Rachel's middle name is Barbara, but when I started this fic I didn't, so for the sake of continuity I'm going with Lea. (Same thing with the 'Rachel's mom' situation.) Sorry it's been so long. Review! :)_

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN:**

**I Hate You**

Rachel whimpered as she rolled over in bed; she cursed Alexander Graham Bell and anyone else that may have had anything to do with creating the telephone as hers _wouldn't stop ringing! _She smiled as her hand found her cell- then she winced as that slight movement caused her head to throb. She scowled at the name on the tiny screen.

"I hate you."

Santana laughed. "Brittany's here too."

"I hate both of you. And I'm never drinking again."

"They always say that." Santana said sagely. Rachel could almost hear her smirking. She was going to make a smartass comment back but Brittany cut her off.

"Who are 'they'?"

"I don't know Brit…" Santana said in exasperation "does it really matter?"

Rachel giggled, then groaned in pain "Don't make me laugh, it hurts too much."

Santana sighed "So why'd you even go home last night, Rocky? There was plenty of room at my place. Britt, Matt and Mike are the only ones who stayed."

"I'm sure you could have convinced Puck to stay too." Brittany teased.

"My dads are coming home today," Rachel explained, "if I wasn't here when they got home they'd _freak out_."

"When are they getting home?"

"I don't know." Rachel responded, closing her eyes.

"So how're you gonna tell the gay dads about your new boyfriend?" Santana asked bluntly.

"They don't know that Noah and I even split up. They think I've been seeing him the whole time."

"Sneaky." Santana commented "Not only are you a diva, a badass throat puncher, and a Class A bitch, but you're also an evil genius? We should have been friends way before this."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You know, somehow those aren't the adjectives I'd choose to describe myself."

"Whatever, I told you to pace yourself."

Rachel gaped "You did no such thing!" Santana scoffed "I believe it was you who convinced me I had to participate in a drinking contest with those stupid jocks…"

"Really?" Santana asked innocently "I don't recall-"

"C'mon Rocky you can't let those slushie throwing bastards win, blah, blah, blah…" Rachel mimicked.

"We're going to the movies tonight," Brittany cut into the girls' argument, "wanna come?"

"Who is we?" Rachel asked throwing an arm over her eyes to try and stop the sunlight streaming through her window from reaching her eyes; she should have shut her curtains last night…

"Just me and San and you." Brit answered. "Girls night."

"I have to eat dinner with my dads tonight, but we could go after that."

"Perfect." Santana replied. "Call me later."

"Sure."

"Bye Rach!"

"Bye Brit. San."

"Later Berry."

Rachel literally threw her phone to the foot of her bed and pulled a pillow over her face. She was _never_ drinking again.

* * *

It was several hours later when Rachel dragged herself out of her shower. At about 11 o'clock she'd finally been able to move without wanting to throw up, a victory of sorts. She still couldn't look into direct light, but after downing however much vodka she'd had the night before she supposed that was fair.

After pulling on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a black wife beater Rachel grabbed her dark sunglasses and put them on. Sighing in relief she started down the stairs towards the kitchen, humming softly under her breath.

She grabbed a cold bottle of water out of the fridge and was about to settle on the couch for an afternoon of doing absolutely nothing when her cell phone began to ring again. Cursing she sprinted up the stairs "Hello?" She panted into the phone, her short run up the stairs causing her stomach to roll nauseously.

"Hey baby," Puck smirked into the phone when he heard his girlfriend's labored breathing, "thinking about me?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and curled up on her bed. "No. I had to run up the stairs to answer my stupid phone and I feel like shit."

Puck frowned when his girlfriend swore. "You drank a lot last night, eh?"

"Oh God…" The brunette moaned "You have no idea. Santana's a very bad influence on me."

Puck snorted "Santana's a bad influence on _everybody_, babe."

"Noah." Rachel scolded "Santana's my friend."

"Yeah," he grunted "how the hell did that happen anyway?"

"Santana and Brittany both got slushied yesterday. We bonded at the mall, like all girls do."

"Somebody slushied _Santana_?" Puck asked incredulously. Rachel just nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "And _you_ skipped class?"

"It was important."

"Rachel Berry!" Noah smirked "You know you're wasting your potential by skipping school. Missing out on important-"

"Ha ha." Rachel cut in dryly as Puck started quoting the speech she'd given him many times. "Now you're not gonna find out what happened in the change room at Victoria's Secret yesterday."

_"What?"_

Rachel flinched at the loud question. "Noah,' she whined "not so loud."

"Rachel Lea Berry, what happened in the change room at Victoria's Secret yesterday that involved you, Brittany, and Santana?"

"Shoot!" Rachel smirked "I think my dad's are home. Gotta go!"

"Berry-"

"Bye Noah, I'll talk to you later."

"Rach-"

Rachel grinned as she hung up and turned her phone to silent. That would teach him to quote _her own_ lectures back at her. She frowned at how hypocritical she was being and was about to call Noah back when she heard a car door slam shut the front door open. She grinned as she heard her fathers bickering fondly and bolted off of her bed, and then she groaned at the nausea she still felt in the back of her throat. Taking a few deep breaths she mentally shoved the feeling down and ran down the stairs. "Dad! Pop! You're home!"

Nathaniel Berry grinned and dropped his bags to the floor as his daughter launched herself at him. "Hey Monster!" he greeted, dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

"Hi daddy." She smiled as she moved over to hug her other dad.

Isaac grinned embracing his daughter. "Hi Princess."

"I'm so glad you're home!"

"It's good to be home."

"So where do you want to go to dinner?" Nate asked as he picked up his bags. "We're starving."

"Oh," Rachel said; her stomach revolting at the mere mention of food, "I hadn't really thought about it."

"Your pop was thinking Red Lobster. We know how much you love lobster." Isaac mentioned as Rachel followed them up the stairs, carrying one of his bags.

"Great…" Rachel cringed.

* * *

"Oh my God," Rachel told her two friends as they waited in line at the movies, "it was awful."

"Seafood and hangovers are the worst combination ever." Santana nodded her agreement, throwing an arm around Rachel's shoulders.

"I had to excuse myself to go to the washroom like 12 times." Rachel admitted. Santana shared a look with Brittany and they both started laughing. "It's not funny!" Rachel insisted "Dad almost didn't let me come tonight because he thought I was sick and I _never_ get sick. Not to mention what throwing up does to your voice-"

"Brittany? Santana?"

"Quinn!" Brittany smiled at the former Cheerio captain. "What are you doing here?"

"Finn and I are here to see a movie." Quinn answered condescendingly, glaring at Rachel. "What are you guys doing here, with _her_?"

Santana's smile slid off her face at Quinn's hostile attitude and she squeezed Rachel's shoulders lightly. "Listen Quinn, Rachel's our friend."

"Rachel?" Quinn sneered, quirking an eyebrow.

"That _is_ her name." Santana retorted.

Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Santana, who glared back. Rachel stood awkwardly, feeling guilty about this whole confrontation, and Brittany was oblivious to the whole thing. The blonde smiled widely as Finn jogged towards them. "Hi Finn!" She waved enthusiastically.

"Brittany." Finn greeted, stopping next to Quinn. "Santana and… Hi Rach."

"Hello Finn." Rachel said politely.

Santana rolled her eyes at the obvious way Finn was staring at Rachel, then she frowned when Quinn's glare intensified. "Where's Puck?" Finn asked.

"Noah? Oh, he-"

"He's on his way." Santana announced.

"But-"

The Latina shook her head slightly "The guys are just running a little behind."

"Oh." Finn replied dejectedly.

"Yeah." She said "So we'll see you later."

"Right…"

"Bye." Brittany said cheerfully as the three girls stepped up to the booth to purchase their tickets.

Quinn just glared.

"I didn't know the guys were coming." Rachel said as they entered the theater.

"They weren't." Santana said texting furiously on her cell. "They are now though."

"I'm sorry about-"

Santana waved a hand dismissively "Not another word Berry."

"But-"

"Seriously."

"Do you guys want popcorn?" Brittany asked suddenly, her nonchalant attitude instantly breaking through the tension.

Rachel paled as her stomach rolled over "Uh, no."

"You're still hung over?" Santana asked.

"Apparently."

"Sucks to be you. 'Cause I totally want popcorn with m 'n' m's inside it. I like when they get all melty…"

"You're a bitch."

"Language Miss Berry."

Rachel glared at her friend. "I hate you."

Santana just smiled. "No you don't."


	17. Shotgun

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:**

**Shotgun**

"Yes!" Mike crowed as Puck's head exploded off his shoulders in a glorious spray of dark red blood. "Take it bitch!"

Puck glared at the television screen where his character had collapsed to the ground, next to his detached head. "Fuck you Chang." He growled, tossing his controller at his friend.

"No." Mike grinned, shifting his head to avoid the incoming plastic object. "Fuck you. You're just pissed, because the Changster owned your ass." And with that statement Mike jumped up onto the couch and began his most obnoxious victory dance.

Puck just rolled his eyes and looked over at Matt. "You want a go, man?"

"Yeah, Rutherford," Mike flexed his arms and kissed his own biceps, one at a time, "you couldn't be worse than Captain Second Base over here."

Matt snickered; he and Mike had been busting Puck's balls all day about not getting past second base with Rachel the night before. "I told you," Puck growled "we were sliding solidly into third when you two fuckers showed up."

"Sure you were." Mike smirked.

"You're a dick."

"You're just jealous 'cause I actually get to use my dick." The Asian retorted.

"Fuck you, Other Asian." Puck replied.

"No," Mike grinned, dropping back onto the couch and chucking Puck's controller back at him, "I fuck Brittany. You fuck no one."

The mohawked jock's eyes narrowed "You're lucky you don't have a pool Chang."

Mike grimaced "One step too far, man. No cougar jokes about my mom." Puck opened up his mouth to say something else and Mike just glared at him. "Or my sister."

Puck smirked and looked over at Matt. "One word about the fact that you've fucked my girlfriend and I'll kick your ass."

"Whatever."

"What's got your panties in a twist anyway?" Mike asked as he and Puck restarted their video game.

"Do you guys know anything about Rachel, Britt and Santana going to Victoria's Secret yesterday?"

Mike paused the game and looked over at his friend "_What_?"

"That's what I said." Then both of them looked over at Matt, who couldn't keep the satisfied grin off his face. "You know something." Puck accused.

"Hell yeah, I know something." Matt replied, his grin widening.

"Out with it!" Mike demanded.

Matt was about to reply when his cell phone went off. He frowned when he read Santana's text message.

"What's up dude?" Puck asked.

"We gotta go meet the girls at the movies."

"Why?"

"San just texted me, I guess Finn and Quinn showed up."

This time Puck frowned, he didn't like the way his supposed best friend continued to moon over his girlfriend. "Have I ever mentioned how stupid it is that their names rhyme?" He asked darkly.

Mike chuckled as Matt continued "Apparently Finn's being himself, staring longingly at Rachel while catering to Quinn's every whim. And Quinn's got her hyped up, pregnant hormones set to super bitch and she's aiming them at Rachel."

"Son of a bitch…" Puck muttered throwing down his controller and starting for his basement stairs. "What are you fuckers waiting for, an engraved invitation? Let's go."

Matt turned off the TV as he and Mike scrambled after their friend. This was gonna be interesting.

* * *

"Why did we all have to drive in the same car?" Mike asked as he shifted uncomfortably in the middle seat of the cab of Puck's truck.

"Because" Puck grinned as he tried to hit the lanky teen in the junk with the shifter "you know, the environment and that shit…" Mike glared at him "Oh yeah, and you suck."

Matt laughed as Puck sped up and tried to hit Mike with the shifter again. "So what movie are we seeing?" Mike asked after a moment of just glaring at his two friends.

Matt frowned, "I don't know, I'll text San."

Mike began fidgeting when silence descended on the truck again; absentmindedly he leaned forward to turn on the radio. "Touch the radio and die Chang."

"Forgot whose car I was in for a minute." Mike said quickly holding his hands up in surrender. Puck just placed his hand threateningly on the shifter and glared at him in the rearview mirror.

"I bet you let Rachel play with your radio." Matt waggled his eyebrows, feeling safe on the other side of the cab. Puck gave him the finger then jerked the steering wheel, making a sharp turn into the theater's parking lot. "Ow, dude!" Matt whined when Mike slid across the seat and crashed into him, causing him to be smashed up against the truck's door. "That fucking hurt."

Puck smirked as he pulled into a parking space "Yeah, well you assholes deserved it. So what movie are we seeing?"

Matt grumbled as he pulled out his phone, his grumbles turned into a groan when he read his girlfriend's latest text message. "Fuckin' chick flick."

"Dammit." Mike swore "Why do I feel like we got played?"

* * *

Santana and Rachel were standing side by side in the lobby leaning against a wall, the former pissed off by the way Quinn was glaring at her and the latter uncomfortable with the way Finn was staring at her. Brittany was oblivious to the whole situation because she was desperately trying to decide between popcorn and nachos- it was a tough decision because the nacho smell didn't make Rachel want to throw up, but she _really_ wanted popcorn.

Santana straightened up when she spotted Puck, Matt, and Mike enter the building, but her relief in seeing them quickly turned into exasperation as she watched Mike attempt to trip Puck and Puck -not tripping- retaliated by pushing Mike into a display. Puck and Matt laughed when both the movie display and the Asian boy crashed to the ground.

Rachel looked up at the sound of the crash and sent Santana a questioning glance. The Latina just shook her head "Boys."

A brilliant smile spread across Brittany's face when she realized Mike was there. "Mike!" She flounced over to her boyfriend. "Why are you on the floor?"

Mike grinned at his girlfriend as he struggled to his feet. "Hey Britt." He kissed the blonde hello "I was on the floor because Puck's an asshole."

The blonde looked over at Puck and shrugged her shoulders "Okay. Come help me decide what to eat." Mike gave his friends the finger as he walked with Brittany to the concession stand and listened amusedly to her popcorn/nacho dilemma.

Puck and Matt continued over to where their own girlfriends were waiting, Matt laughing at Brittany's easy acceptance of Mike's explanation and Puck fuming over it.

"Hey babe," Puck greeted Rachel wrapping an arm around her and leaning down to give her a brief kiss, "how you feeling?"

Rachel smiled tentatively -very aware of Finn and Quinn's eyes on her- "Queasy, but better. What happened to Michael? Why was he on the floor?"

Puck and Matt both chuckled "He tripped." Matt grinned.

"Yeah," Puck added "you know how clumsy that guy is."

Rachel frowned "I've never known him to be clumsy. In fact, I've never seen him be anything other than extremely graceful; he _is_ a very skilled dancer-"

"Yeah Berry," Puck cut off his girlfriend, leading her towards the concession line "we all know how skilled he is."

Santana looked up at her own boyfriend, with a sparkle in her eyes, as Quinn stomped off –pissed off she was being ignored, no doubt- Finn following behind her like a puppy. "I'm not sure whether I'm ashamed to be dating a stooge or proud that you're the smartest one."

Matt laughed, he really liked the playful side Rachel seemed to bring out in his girlfriend, then he wrapped his arm around her waist and followed Puck and Rachel towards the food. "It's probably best not to think about it."

* * *

"That movie was a piece of shit." Puck declared as the eight teens left the theater –Quinn and Finn had sat with the others simply because Brittany had asked them to and it was hard to deny the naïve blonde anything.

"I liked it." Brittany decided, sucking at her soda "It was happy."

"Britt," Rachel said delicately "it was only happy at the end the rest was horribly depressing and rather badly acted."

"It was?"

Santana nodded "You probably would've noticed if you and Mike hadn't been sucking face the whole time."

The blonde just shrugged "Oh well, I had a good time."

"Me too." Mike agreed.

Quinn turned to Finn; all the happy-go-lucky fluff was giving her a migraine "Take me home, Finn." She demanded then she sent Brittany and Mike a pointed glare "All of a sudden I feel nauseous." Finn nodded goodbye to the others and led Quinn towards his car.

"Bye Quinn!" Brittany yelled at the retreating couple. "Hope you feel better!"

No one bothered to fill her in on what she was missing this time.

"You guys wanna come back to my place?" Puck asked the remaining teens.

Mike and Matt shrugged their agreement while Rachel, Santana, and Brittany exchanged glances. "We're going back to Berry's place." Santana decided "We're going to empty her closet of all animal sweaters and plaid skirts."

"And facials." Brittany added cheerfully.

"Not all the skirts." Puck said, a stricken look on his face. "You know how I feel about the skirts."

"Not all the skirts." Rachel agreed, leaning up to give him a kiss.

And with that the three girls were on their way to Rachel's car, leaving Puck, Mike and Matt standing in the parking lot. "So," Puck smirked, jingling his keys in his hand, "who's sitting bitch?"

Mike and Matt looked at each other "Shotgun!"

Puck laughed to himself as his friend's pushed and shoved at each other in a race towards his truck. "Suckers."


	18. King Of Anything

_So I love this song and I really just wanted to find a way to incorporate it into a story. Sorry it's so late in coming, just got back from an impromtu vacation. I'm also going to find out from the neurosurgeon if I need surgery this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me... after you write a review of course. ;) Much love!_

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:**

**King of Anything**

School on Monday was a bizarre thing for Rachel Berry. Used to hurrying through the halls -mostly to avoid the jeers and taunting from, well, everyone… and the slushies- she was surprised that people kept coming up to her with smiles and congratulatory pats on the back.

"Hey Rach." Mike grinned at her as he sidled up to her locker.

"Hello Michael." The brunette replied distractedly.

The tight end cocked his head as he studied her, the crease between her brows intriguing him. "What's up?"

Rachel gave him a speculative look before unloading her confusion on him. "I'm not entirely sure what's happening today." Then she told him all about her unusual morning.

"They heard about your mad skills at Santana's party." Mike finally concluded after a few moments of thought.

"Mad skills?" Rachel asked, closing her locker and clutching her textbooks to her chest.

Mike nodded. "You know when you kicked Azimio's ass? And then of course there was the dancing…" A faraway grin appeared on his face when he thought back on the 'dancing' the girls had done a couple of nights ago.

"Mike?" Rachel asked when the lanky boy trailed off. Then noticing the look on his face she shook her head. _Boys_… "I hardly think that participating in a juvenile, not to mention illegal, drinking competition should warrant such a congratulatory response."

Mike smiled and threw an arm about her shoulders as they started walking towards her class. "We're in high school Rach." The petite brunette looked up at him, one brow quirked, questioning "I'm just saying you're 16 going on 30. It's not a bad thing!" He added when her face fell "Let me start again. You're leagues ahead of the rest of us. You know who you are, where you're going and how you're going to get there. You're not caught up in all the high school drama." He gestured wildly. "That being said we're _in _high school, everyone else _lives_ for the drama. Drinking contests included."

Rachel nodded contemplatively then she smiled at the Asian boy "You know, I think that's the most you've ever said to me all at once."

He shrugged "Puck's my boy, we're usually hanging out and when he's around he pretty much just says what everyone's thinking."

"True."

"So, anyway the reason I wanted to talk to you this morning was 'cause I wanted to find out about your dance classes."

"My dance classes?" He nodded "Why? Which ones?"

Mike sighed and scratched the back of his neck nervously "The thing is my dad and I made a deal. I can defer college for a year to give dancing a shot, but if I don't make it in that year I've got to come home and take business courses at OSU." Rachel prompted him to continue, not seeing what her classes had to do with anything. "So I figure the best way to get myself out there will be to audition for So You Think You Can Dance when I graduate."

"You'll do great at that Mike." Rachel said honestly. "You're an amazing dancer."

"Yeah, but I need to learn some other styles if I want a shot at winning."

"I see. Well, my ballet class is always looking for male dancers." Mike cringed and shook his head at the mention of ballet. "While it would do wonders for your reflexes and help you immensely in football I can see why ballet wouldn't be your first choice…"

"Yeah."

"Why don't you accompany me to my Jazz class on Saturday morning?"

"Really?" Rachel nodded. A huge smile stretched across Mike's face as the final morning bell rang "Thanks Rach. It's a date."

The diva laughed as he pulled her into a hug and then sprinted down the hall towards his English class. She was about to enter her own class when a hand wrapped around her forearm. "Unhand me you-" When she spun around and saw that it was her boyfriend she relaxed "Noah, you startled me. What are you doing here? You have Biology right now, don't you?"

"Fuck that. What the hell were you and Chang doing just now?"

"Me and… Mike? We were just talking. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me. He had his hands all over you!"

"He hugged me."

"Whatever, I don't think you should hang out with the guys so much."

"Excuse me?"

"With Finn making eyes at you and Mike all- 'hugging' you… I think you should just stay away from the guys for a while."

"You can't tell me who I can or can't be around."

"The fuck I can't." Puck retorted.

Rachel narrowed her eyes at him "Mike's my friend and I will hang out with him as much as I want. But there is one guy I'll be spending considerably less time with and that's you! You can call me when you're done being an immature, jealous child." With that the brunette stomped down the hallway leaving Puck wondering what the fuck had just happened.

* * *

Rachel slammed into the girl's washroom, having no idea why she was just so… _angry_. "Stupid, Noah…" She growled as she slammed her books down on the counter. "Ugh!" After a few moments of restless, angry pacing Rachel calmed down enough to hear the sniffling coming from one of the stalls. "Hello?"

"Rachel?"

"Tina? Is that you?" The goth girl finally stepped out of her stall and looked tearfully at the brunette. "Who slushied you?"

Tina shrugged and wiped some of the orange liquid from her forehead. "I don't know. They got me coming around a corner. But that's not why…"

"Tina," Rachel asked softly, "what happened to your stutter?" That's when Tina burst into tears again and the whole story about Artie and the kiss and her stutter exploded out of her. "Oh, Tina…" Rachel squeezed the other girl's hand "what a mess… But I'll tell you something I know for a fact."

"What's that?" The Asian girl asked, rinsing orange slushie from her hair.

"Boys are stupid. And they suck." Tina giggled and smiled for the first time since the whole incident with Artie. "Here's what we're gonna do." Rachel said suddenly, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. "I'm gonna call Santana and Brittany and then we have some work to do."

* * *

"So what's this plan?" Santana asked as she, Brittany, and Tina piled into Rachel's car at lunch.

A slow smile spread across Rachel's face as she started the car. "Well, San you're going to find us a suitable wardrobe, Brit's going to come up with some dance moves and the four of us are going to put on a little performance at glee practice this afternoon."

"To what song?" Tina asked quietly from the back seat.

Rachel's grin widened as she found her song choice on her iPod and selected it. Santana smirked. "I love it."

* * *

"Okay guys." Mr. Schue clapped his hands to get the glee club's attention. "Has anyone seen Rachel, Brittany, Santana, or Tina?"

"Not since lunch." Mike answered.

The curly haired teacher sighed as he checked his watch, 3:10. "I guess we'll just have to start without them. Mercedes, would you-"

"We're here!" Rachel cried as she barreled into the music room, closely followed by the other three girls.

"Typical diva." Mercedes crossed her arms over her chest, disappointed to miss out on a solo again.

Puck shot her a nasty glare. "Shut it Aretha."

"Noah," Rachel stomped her foot, upset by the interruption, "_shut up_." Then she turned her attention to Mr. Schue "We have something we'd like to perform."

Schue sighed and checked his watch and sighed again. "Of course."

Rachel ran over to the band and distributed sheet music, and then once they assured her they could play the song she hurried back to the middle of the room and got into formation with the other girls.

With a quick nod from her the band started playing and the four girls took off their coats. They all wore the same simple outfit; low cut black tank tops, jeans, and high heeled black boots.

Brittany, who was standing in the front, shocked the rest of the club by executing a series of complicated hip hop moves which ended in her now infamous standing splits and then she opened her mouth and began to sing her first ever solo.

_Keep drinking coffee_

_Stare me down across the table_

_While I look outside_

_So many things I'd say if only I were able_

_But I just keep quiet_

_And count the cars that pass by_

The blonde slipped back into line and Santana strutted to the front while everyone danced behind her.

_You've got opinions, man_

_We're all entitled to 'em_

_But I never asked_

_So let me thank you for your time_

_And try not to waste anymore of mine_

_And get out of here fast_

Rachel danced forward and she and Santana circled each other as the tiny brunette belted out the next few lines.

_I hate to break it to you, babe,_

_But I'm not drowning_

_There's no one here to save_

Tina and Brittany slid forward to join Rachel and Santana as the four of them began the chorus of the song.

_Who cares if you disagree?_

_You are not me_

_Who made you king of anything?_

_So you dare tell me who to be_

_Who died and made you king of anything?_

Tina, Brittany, and Santana all backed away, leaving Rachel staring directly at Puck as she continued to sing.

_You sound so innocent_

_And full of good intent_

_Swear you know best_

_But you expect me to_

_Jump on board with you_

_And ride off into your delusional sunset_

_I'm not the one who's lost_

_With no direction, oh_

_But you'll never see_

_You're too busy making maps_

_With your name on them, in all caps_

_You've got the talking down_

_Just not the listening_

Spinning on her heel Rachel danced back towards her friends as they sang the chorus together once again.

_Who cares if you disagree?_

_You are not me_

_Who made you king of anything?_

_So you dare tell me who to be_

_Who died and made you king of anything?_

The girls stopped dancing and the music slowed as Tina stepped up, looking at Artie as she sang.

_All my life_

_I've tried to make everybody happy_

_While I just hurt and hide_

_Waiting for someone to tell me_

_It's my turn to decide_

Everything started back up as Tina finished her long note. The four girls danced around each other, clapping to the beat and just having fun at this point. They sang the chorus twice more before ending the song.

They didn't even wait for their audiences' reactions, they just grabbed their discarded coats and rush out of the room.

Artie was the only one to catch the tears running down Tina's cheeks. He looked contemplatively down at his hands, which were folded on his lap.

"Well," Mr. Schue said after realizing the girls weren't coming back, "that sure was something…"


	19. Shit's Gonna Go Down

_So no excuses, a lot of stuff's been going on in my life, but mostly writer's block... Love you guys long time. Let me know what you think._

**CHAPTER NINETEEN:**

**Shit's Gonna Go Down**

Puck growled into his phone when Rachel didn't answer. _Again. _"Dammit, Rach," he snarled at her voicemail "answer your fucking phone!" Hanging up his cell he threw it down angrily.

Following his phone he threw himself down onto his bed. His girlfriend hadn't spoken to him in three days. Three whole fucking days. Not a 'hi' in the halls at school, not a 'Noah, would you please pay attention' during class, not even a reprimand during glee when he sang off key on purpose. He was going crazy.

Hearing his phone beep he smiled, _finally_, a text message was better than nothing. He scowled when he saw that his text was from Mike. Quickly dialling his friend's number he didn't even say hi when the Asian boy picked up. "This whole thing is your fucking fault."

"Uh, hi and what?"

"Rachel hasn't talked to me in three days."

"Ah," Puck could practically hear Mike's smirk over the line "the 'verbal bitch slap' episode."

"That's a stupid name." Puck interrupted.

Mike continued on as if he'd never heard him "From what Brittany tells me that whole thing was your fault. And Artie's. Mostly yours though."

"I blame you and Finn." Puck said stubbornly.

"For what?"

"You were all over my girlfriend, dude. If Rachel didn't _abhor violence_ I would have punched you in your pretty boy face."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Monday morning."

"Monday morning? You mean when I hugged her for all of three seconds? Dude, we're friends. And I'm a hugger."

"You don't hug me." Puck pointed out.

"You're a caveman." Mike responded "You'd punch me in my pretty boy face if I tried to hug you. I need my face intact; it's my money maker."

Puck scoffed "Whatever Chang, keep telling yourself that."

"You're the one that called me pretty."

"Asshole."

"Douchebag."

"See you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, you don't want to hang with me and Matt tonight?"

"Nah man, gotta figure out how to make things right with Rachel."

"An apology usually works." Mike offered "And take her some flowers or something, that's what they do in the movies."

"Pussy." Puck said hanging up the phone.

* * *

"Santana…" Rachel whined "when am I allowed to talk to him again?"

"Listen to me Berry, I've never seen Puck so pussy whipped and, believe me, I tried."

Rachel bit her lip "Why did you break up with Noah in the first place?"

Santana sighed at how pathetic her friend sounded "The truth?" Rachel nodded even though the Latina couldn't see her "I didn't really want to dump him. Quinn made me."

"What?"

Santana sighed again "It's better this way though."

"Are you sure?"

The head cheerleader barked out a laugh "I'm sure Berry, Puck and I are better as 'sort of friends'… And I love Matt."

"That's good, San, 'cause I'm not sure I'd win a fight against you."

"I don't know, Rach, you're pretty feisty. Remember how you punched out Karofsky?"

"Don't remind me…" The brunette looked up when she heard her doorbell ring. "San, I gotta go."

"Buck up Rocky." Santana responded "He'll come crawling back, you'll see."

"Thanks." Rachel was stunned when she opened her front door. "Noah…"

Puck cleared his throat and shoved a handful of flowers at her. "Here."

Confusion was written all over the girl's face when clumps of dirt fell from the roots of the brightly coloured mums. "Noah, where did you get these?"

The jock ran a hand over his stripe of hair. "Does it matter?"

Rachel narrowed her eyes "You took them from my neighbours' garden."

"Look Rach," he ignored her accusation "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Sorry for what?" Rachel asked, planting her hands on her hips, causing even more soil to fall to the floor.

"Fuck, I don't know… Everything."

"You don't even know _why_ I'm mad at you."

"Yes I do!" Puck retorted.

"Why then?"

"'Cause I was being a dick." Puck admitted. Rachel raised one eyebrow and tapped her foot, waiting for him to elaborate. "Rachel, you're my girl. I- I care about you, more than any girl I've ever met and you have no idea how fucking hot you are. When I see other guys with their hands on you… I don't know… I just hate it."

Rachel sighed "Noah, you can't stop me from being friends with other boys. I hug my friends, you're just going to have to live with that and trust _me_. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

"I do trust you."

"So?"

"Couldn't you just be friends with ugly guys that I don't have to worry about? Like Jewfro. You can hug that guy as much as you want."

"Jacob Ben-Israel?" Rachel asked seriously. Puck nodded. "My dads threatened to get a restraining order against him when they caught him going through our garbage."

"_He what_?"

Rachel just sighed again "It's besides the point Noah. I like Mike and Matt and Artie. I'm going to be their friend."

"I know." Puck answered "Can you just take it easy on the hugging thing?"

Rachel laughed "I'll work on it."

Puck smirked "So we're good then?"

The brunette thrust the flowers back at him "We'll be fine once you replant these."

"Really?" Rachel nodded. "Fine. I'll pick you up for school tomorrow?"

Rachel nodded again and leaned up to kiss him quickly "8:00".

"Cool."

Rachel leaned against the doorway as Puck started down her driveway "Noah?" The jock turned when he heard his girlfriend call his name. "I care about you too."

Puck smirked cockily at her admission "I know."

"Replant the flowers." Rachel repeated herself.

"Aye aye." Puck saluted.

* * *

"So," Brittany asked as she picked apart her ham sandwich at lunch the next day, "did he put the flowers back?"

Rachel nodded and laughed as she took the cheddar from Brittany's sandwich and replaced it with the swiss that had been on her own. "I checked when he picked me up for school today."

"He picked you up on time?"

The brunette furrowed her brow. "Yeah. Why?"

"Because," Santana continued for her blonde best friend, "I heard you were half an hour late for first period."

Rachel blushed as the cheerleader exchanged her strawberry yogurt for Brittany's peach. "We may or may not have made out in his truck for an undetermined amount of time."

"Rachel!" Brittany giggled.

Santana smirked. "You're learning quickly, young one."

"What's she learning?" Tina asked sitting at the table and trading Rachel's Snapple for her diet Pepsi.

"That sometimes you have to be late for class so you can make out with your boyfriend in his truck."

"Santana!"

"What? You're the one who did it." Rachel's blush deepened as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"So what's with you and Artie?" Brittany asked Tina, turning the attention from her embarrassed friend.

Tina shrugged as she ate her own lunch "He apologised for being a jerk, but nothing's really happened."

The girls didn't get any more conversation in as the cafeteria doors slammed open and a seething Puck stood there, dripping with purple slushie.

"Oh my God," Brittany whispered "someone slushied Puck."

"Shit's gonna go down." Tina nodded her agreement with Santana's statement.

Rachel stood up slowly, abandoning her lunch. "I'm gonna go…"

Santana, Brittany, and Tina watched as their tiny friend walked up to the furious jock still standing silently in the doorway. Rachel laid her hand on Puck's arm and led him quietly from the cafeteria.

Most of the shocked students went back to their lunches, but Santana just looked seriously at her two friends. "When he- _we_- find out who's behind this, shit's gonna go down."


	20. Should Have Known

_So Glee... I'm loving Sam already. And what Puck said about his giant mouth... I laughed out loud. Let me know what you think. :)_

**CHAPTER TWENTY:**

**Should Have Known**

Quinn looked down her nose at the assembled Cheerios, Coach Sylvester leaning against the wall behind her. "Who's been slushied so far?"

"We got Brittany." Heather and Amber announced in unison.

Quinn rolled her eyes as she paced "Wow, what an achievement." The two girls smiled proudly not recognizing the sarcasm in Quinn's statement.

"I took care of Santana." Michele, a tall, statuesque, dark skinned girl said smugly, crossing her legs in front of her. "Bitch never saw it coming."

"Hey!" The lanky cheerleading coach barked "Watch your language, Stone. This is a gym not a whorehouse."

"Whatever," the girl rolled her eyes, much like Quinn had seconds before "I also slushied the hell out of Puck."

Coach Sylvester shot the girl another warning glare, but Quinn grinned appreciatively "Nice. Who else?"

"I got the Asian chick."

"Black chick."

"That's it?" Quinn exclaimed, disgusted. "Am I the only one taking this seriously?" Michele pointedly cleared her throat "Michele's done her part… But seriously, the gleeks are trying to usurp our power." Most of the Cheerios stared at her blankly "Do you guys really want to be less popular than the _glee club_?"

Heather and Amber gasped "That couldn't, like, really happen, could it?" Amber asked.

"You guys all saw what happened with RuPaul, didn't you? And now they're dating _jocks. _We've got to do something." Quinn stopped pacing suddenly and rested her hands on her baby bump "I want Mike and Matt slushied next."

"Tell me Quinn," Michele asked snidely "when are we going to slushie you?"

"What's going on here?" Santana asked as she strode into the gym, her ponytail swishing behind her.

Quinn looked up at her former best friend "I was just giving the Cheerios a few pointers."

"As _head_ cheerleader shouldn't I have been involved in this little meeting?"

"As head cheerleader shouldn't you have been _on time_ for this little meeting?"

"Hard to be on time for something you're not invited to." Santana sneered at the blonde as she left the gym. The Latina crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the remaining cheerleaders and the coach. "Something I should know?"

Michele stood up and wiped the back of her skirt off "She was just giving us some tips on the tumbling pass for the fight cheer, you wouldn't be able to help us with that since you're just a flyer, right?"

Santana glared at the black girl as she, followed by the rest of the Cheerios, left the gym to start practice on the football field. "Let's go Lopez." Coach Sylvester said as she walked by the cheerleader, barely able to keep the grin off her face.

Santana narrowed her eyes at the backs of her so called teammates and her coach. Something was going on.

* * *

"Noah," Rachel sighed as her boyfriend pulled her hair to one side so he had better access to the side of her neck "stop…"

"Stop what?" He asked mischievously, nibbling on the shell of Rachel's ear.

"Stop distracting me." She groaned. Puck just smirked against her neck and inched his hands up her shirt "Seriously Noah, I have a test on Monday."

"So study."

"I can't study when you-" the brunette gasped sharply as his thumbs pushed her bra up and he cupped her breasts. She let out a little whine as his calloused fingertips brushed over her nipples.

"When I what?"

Rachel pushed her biology notes away from herself, not caring when her carefully organized notes scattered all over her bedroom floor, and turned so she was straddling Puck's lap. "When you're being completely inappropriate."

"Inappropriate?" the jock asked mock innocently as he unhooked her bra under her shirt "I'm pretty sure making out with your smoking hot girlfriend during a 'study date' is entirely appropriate teenage male behaviour."

Rachel grinned and pulled her boyfriend's WMHS football shirt over his head "I love it when you get all verbose…"

"Oh really?" Puck hissed as Rachel lightly scraped her fingernails down his chest and over his abs.

"Mhmm." She nodded, biting her bottom lip.

"Do you want me to talk some more?"

Rachel shook her head and leaned forward to kiss him. Puck pulled his hands from beneath her shirt and tangled them in her hair, pulling her as close to him as he could. Rachel pulled back slightly and grinned at him "I think the time for talk is over, don't you?"

Puck growled and flipped them over so he was pinning Rachel to her mattress "It's definitely over."

He was in the process of taking off Rachel's shirt when both of their cell phones rang. Simultaneously.

"Noah…" Rachel moaned pushing at his chest lightly.

"What?"

"That's my dad's ringtone…"

"Just let it ring." He muttered, kissing along her jawline.

"But it's your mom's ringtone too."

"Dammit!" he surrendered, rolling to the side.

Rachel tossed his cell at him and took a deep breath as she answered her own. "Hi dad. How are you? Just studying…"

Puck sighed as he answered his phone "What's up, Ma?"

The two teenagers finished their phone conversations at about the same time and grinned at each other. "My dad's flying out to San Francisco for an emergency meeting with his firm's head partners and pop's staying overnight in Columbus."

"Oh really?" Puck asked settling on top of his girlfriend again.

"Really." Rachel grinned, locking her arms behind Puck's neck. "What did your mom have to say?"

Puck leaned down and kissed Rachel leisurely "She just called to tell me she's getting off work early, so I don't have to pick Dani up today."

"That gives us plenty of time to study."

"Study." Puck said incredulously, his hands halting on her upper thighs, underneath her short skirt. "You want to study? Right now?"

Rachel smirked "Well, I don't _want_ to…"

"You're killing me Rach."

Rachel wrapped her legs around Puck's waist and pulled him down so that his erection was pressing against her. "I guess it's a good thing I wasn't serious then, isn't it?"

"Tease." Puck groaned as Rachel rolled her hips.

It was Rachel's turn to groan when Puck ran his fingers along the edge of her lace boyshorts. Then their phones went off simultaneously _again_.

"Seriously?" Puck asked as Rachel blindly searched for where she'd left her phone.

"It might be important." Rachel replied giving him a brief kiss.

"It better be important." The jock muttered darkly, groping for his cell.

"What?"

"What's wrong with you?" Mike asked in response to Puck's angry greeting.

"Chang. I should have known. Nobody cock blocks me quite like you do."

"Noah!" Rachel slapped his shoulder.

"What?"

"Matt got slushied." Mike announced.

"Seriously?" Puck asked, rolling off of Rachel and sitting up on the edge of her bed.

"Yeah. They got him leaving the change room after football practice. Speaking of which, where were you?"

"I was too pissed to go to practice. Rach brought me back to her place to shower and change and stuff."

"And stuff, eh?"

"Yeah, well, we were getting to that when you cock blocked…"

"Right. Sorry. We've got to figure out who's doing this. First our girls and now they're going after us?"

"Not for long." Puck promised.

"Okay, I'll leave you to your _stuff_."

Puck watched as Rachel balanced her phone between her ear and her shoulder and did up her bra under her shirt. "Too late."

"Sorry dude."

"Whatever."

"See you at the game tonight?"

"Yeah. Later."

"Later."

Rachel finished her phone call with a frantic Santana and looked over at Puck apologetically. "Santana's freaking out."

Puck snorted. "What's new?"

Rachel just glared at him as she attempted to fix her hair. "Something about Quinn and secret meetings with the Cheerios… I don't know, she was doing that thing when she starts speaking Spanish and doesn't realize it…"

"Quinn." Puck muttered under his breath.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, babe." Puck smirked up at her "Mike just called me so I've got to go anyway."

"Okay. See you later?"

Puck nodded and kissed her quickly as they both exited her house. He sat in his truck as he watched Rachel drive away. Quinn. He should have fucking known.


	21. We Need To Talk

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:**

**We Need To Talk**

Quinn huffed, annoyed, as her doorbell was rung continuously. "I'm coming!" She snapped "What?" She asked as she flung the door open. "Puck." She stared coldly at the mohawked football player; who stood, glowering furiously on her front porch. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Puck ignored the blonde's obvious sarcasm "Cut the shit, Quinn."

Quinn crossed her arms over her chest "What do you want, Puckerman?"

"I want you to fucking stop."

"Stop what?" The smirk on the former Cheerio's face belied the innocence of her voice.

"Stop your little slushie agenda. What are you trying to prove anyway?"

"That I'm better." Quinn answered angrily "Your little gleek friends are _nothing._"

"Not sure if you've noticed Fabray, but you're a gleek too."

"Technicality." Quinn shrugged.

"You think you're still head bitch?" Puck asked incredulously.

"I know I'm still head bitch." Quinn smirked again "And so do the Cheerios."

"I wonder how Santana would react to that."

Quinn snorted and arched one delicate brow. "And I wonder how your little _girlfriend_ would react to this."

Puck narrowed his eyes as the blonde rested a hand on her slight baby bump. "You're the one that wanted to keep the fact that I'm the father a secret in the first place. Why would you tell the truth now?"

"You didn't have anything to lose before." She stated simply. "Now you have _Man Hands_."

Puck just stared at the former cheerleader, "What happened to you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What could possibly have happened to make you such a cold, heartless bitch? I might not be perfect, but hopefully my kid's more like me and has, you know, _a soul_."

"_Your_ kid?" Quinn asked. "You'll _never _have anything to do with this _thing._ As soon as it pops out it's gone."

"You can't do that." Puck protested.

"Watch me." Quinn sneered, slamming the door in his face.

Shocked, Puck walked silently back to his truck. Sitting at the curb he made a choice. Dialling blindly he held his phone up to his ear.

"_Hello?"_

"Rachel?"

"_Noah? Are you alright?"_

"No. I need to talk to you."

"_I'm at Santana's right now, do you-"_

"I'm driving back to your place right now. Meet me there."

"_Okay… Noah, what happened?"_

"I'll explain everything." Puck promised as he started his truck. "I just… I need to tell you something. It's important."

"_I'll be there."_

"Don't- don't talk to anyone until you see me, okay?"

"_I don't understand."_

"Promise me, Rachel."

"_Okay-"_

Without another word Puck snapped his phone shut and tossed it into the passenger seat. This was it, all or nothing.

* * *

"Noah?" Rachel asked anxiously as she got out of her car. "What's wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Puck rose from where he'd been waiting on his girlfriend's porch for the last 10 minutes. "Rach-"

"Is your mom okay? Your sister? You were with Mike, weren't you? Is he okay? He broke his leg, didn't he? Oh God, how are we going to win sectionals if Mike can't dance?"

"Rachel," Puck placed his hands on the brunette's shoulders "Chang's fine, Dani's fine, Ma's crazy… but fine. Relax."

"What about you?" Rachel asked softly, her brown eyes full of concern.

Puck sighed and pulled her into a fierce hug. Resting his cheek against her hair he closed his eyes tightly. "We need to talk."

Rachel pulled out of his arms slowly "We do?"

The footballer nodded "Can we go inside?"

"Oh, of course, how remiss of me." Puck silently followed Rachel into the living room and sprawled onto the couch. "May I offer you a beverage?"

"Jesus, Rachel, I'm not the fucking queen." He stared at her, sitting nervously on the edge of her chair, her hands folded primly in her lap.

"Are you breaking up with me?" She blurted out suddenly.

"What? No!"

"It's just… you said 'we need to talk' and most social conventions dictate that phrase means 'I'm breaking up with you'."

"Berry, unclench. I'm not breaking up with you."

Rachel visibly relaxed "Okay. So what do you need to talk about?"

"Come here." Noah gestured for her to sit next to him on the couch.

"Noah?" the diva asked when he just stared at her.

Puck leaned towards her slightly and reached out to gently brush a loose tendril of her hair behind her ear. Rachel's breath hitched as he cupped her face in both hands and stroked his thumbs across her cheekbones. Then he leaned in further and kissed her; the softest, sweetest, saddest kiss she'd ever experienced.

"Noah?" she repeated.

"I just wanted to do that in case it was the last time you let me…" He took a deep breath "I've been lying to you."

"I don't understand…"

"Promise you'll hear me out."

"Of course. What have you been lying to me about?"

Puck let out a ragged breath. "Quinn."

"You _are_ in love with her."

"Fuck no. For the millionth time; I'm not in love with Quinn, you're not in love with Finn. Got it?"

Rachel nodded and bit her lip to hide the smile she knew would be completely inappropriate. "Got it."

"It's about the baby."

"What about the baby?"

"It's not Finn's."

"Whose is it?" Rachel asked uncertainly, clasping her hands together anxiously.

"Mine."

"Yours…" She repeated. Puck nodded. "I need…"

Puck watched as Rachel stood up, mid-sentence, and walked into the kitchen. When she didn't reappear he got up and hesitantly followed her. "Rachel?"

Rachel turned to look at him and he watched as she guzzled an entire bottle of water. Neither of them said anything until she turned to refill the bottle under the tap. "Explain, please."

Puck shifted uncomfortably before moving to sit at the island. "It was a couple months ago."

"Probably two or three." Rachel said sarcastically. Puck shot her a look "Sorry. Continue."

"We were at a party. It was at Azimio's house. It was the last party of the summer, the weekend before school started. I was drunk and probably a little high, I don't really remember…" Rachel made a disapproving sound in the back of her throat. Puck just looked at her again. "Smoking a joint is hardly the worst thing I did that night, Berry." Rachel made another little sound and motioned for him to continue. "So Quinn and Finn got there late, most of us were already trashed, but Finn caught up pretty quick. For a giant, dude _cannot_ hold his liquor. Anyway all the Cheerios were wearing their uniforms that night and stupid, drunk Finn says something about it to Quinn. She got pissed and came to me for booze. I gave her a pack of wine coolers that I'd swiped from my mom."

"Noah!" Rachel scolded.

Puck rolled his eyes. "So the Ice Queen downs, like, two in a row and demands I follow her. I was blitzed, but bitch is crazy scary so I followed her. We ended up in the guestroom and Quinn started asking me all these questions about if I thought she looked fat in her uniform and stuff. I remember getting really dizzy and laying down and then she was straddling me and then nothing."

"Nothing?"

Puck shook his head. "The next thing I remember is waking up the next morning and ralphing into the garbage can."

Rachel wrinkled her nose in disgust "Lovely."

Puck shrugged "It's weird, booze doesn't usually affect me that way -even when I mix it with weed." He added when Rachel opened her mouth to interrupt.

"You need to tell Finn." Rachel said, placing her water bottle on the counter.

"I know." Puck said, burying his head in his hands.


	22. Coming Up Rainbows

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:**

**Coming Up Rainbows**

"Hey, Rocky!" Santana called as she and Brittany hurried after Rachel into the school parking lot.

"Hello Santana. Brittany." The petite brunette greeted as the two girls caught up to her.

"What's going on, Berry?"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean." Rachel responded, clutching her books tight to her chest.

"You weren't all bossy in glee and you haven't returned our calls in three days." Brittany said softly.

Santana nodded "And you and Puckerman have stopped being disgusting all over the freaking place."

"Did you guys break up?" Brittany asked; her eyes wide. "You can't break up! I'm Puckleberry's number one fan!"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Tell us what's wrong, bitch."

Rachel sighed and leaned against her car door. "I don't think we broke up; I guess it's really my call… I don't _want_ to break up with him…"

"What's going on, Rachel?" Santana asked again, this time her words were coloured with concern.

"I- I don't think it's my story to tell…"

"Call Puck right now, tell him he fucked up and you're going to talk to your girls about it." Brittany nodded in agreement.

"How do you know Noah's the one that screwed up?"

The cheerleader planted her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes again. "Please. Now unlock the car, I'm freezing."

Rachel dug her keys out of her coat pocket and did as her friend instructed. When the three girls were settled in the car Brittany –who was sitting shotgun- turned to Rachel expectantly. "So, call."

"Alright, alright." The brunette consented, dialling quickly and lifting her phone to her ear.

"_What?"_

Rachel frowned. "Noah. That's hardly an acceptable way to answer your phone."

"_Rachel?"_ Puck asked, relieved. _"Thank God. You haven't answered any of my calls or returned any of my messages…"_

"I know… I'm sorry. I've just needed some time…"

"_I get it."_

"Anyway, it's been brought to my attention that I may have an easier time of it if I'm able to discuss our predicament with a few of my peers."

"_You want to tell El Diablo and Bendy Barbie about my baby daddy status."_

"Noah! Brittany and Santana have perfectly lovely names; it wouldn't hurt for you to use them."

"_Whatever." _Rachel could practically hear Puck rolling his eyes. _"I guess as long as it's not Aretha or Beyonce, they can't keep their fucking mouths shut to save their lives. Tell them if it helps you, just make sure it stays on the down low. I want Finn to find out from me."_

"I appreciate it Noah."

"_Yeah, well…"_

"And I want you to know that we're not broken up." Rachel was about to hang up as Puck lapsed into silence. "Noah?"

"_I- That's good to know, Berry. Really good."_

Rachel let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding. "Good. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"_Later, Rach."_

"Goodbye."

"So Puckleberry's still on?" Brittany asked as Rachel hung up her phone.

Rachel laughed softly. "Yeah, Brit, Puckleberry's still on."

"So what'd he call us?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You told Puckerman to call us by our real names," Santana reasoned as Rachel pulled out of the parking lot, "so what did he call us?"

"I'm not sure-"

"Oh please, Rocky, it won't be anything we haven't heard before, I'm sure." Santana scoffed.

"Well he called you 'El Diablo' and he called Brit 'Bendy Barbie'." Rachel confessed.

"Puck gave me a nickname?" Brittany asked happily "He does love me! I should make a nickname for him."

"Totally." Santana smirked, meeting Rachel's gaze in the rear view mirror. "Maybe you should call him Jellybean. Or Sunshine."

"Hmm…" Brittany said, seriously pondering Santana's suggestions. Rachel just glared at the Latina in the mirror.

"How 'bout Blossom? Or Tigerlily. Rainbow?"

"I do like rainbows…" Brittany said slowly.

"Brittany," Rachel glared harder at Santana, who was struggling to hold in her laughter, while she spoke softly to the blonde "you can't call Noah 'Rainbow'."

"Why not?"

"Yeah Rocky," Santana laughed at the speechless brunette "why not?"

"It's just not appropriate. We'll come up with something better." She promised the former cheerleader as she pulled into her driveway.

"Okay." Brittany agreed cheerily. She got out of the car and flounced up to the door followed by her two dark haired friends.

"You suck." Rachel announced.

"I'm awesome." Santana countered, throwing an arm about Rachel's shoulders.

* * *

"So," Santana said once the three girls were settled on Rachel's bed, laden with snacks and drinks courtesy of Rachel's dad, "what the hell's up with you and Rainbow?"

"I guess it started with a party at Aizimo's…" Rachel began. She told her friends almost word for word –minus the swearing, of course- Puck's story.

"So Puck's Drizzle's dad?" Brittany asked. Rachel nodded. "And you don't want to break up with him?" she clarified.

Rachel shook her head. "We weren't dating at the time, we weren't even friends when it happened, and I don't know… Something doesn't seem right about the whole thing."

"It's not." Santana said softly.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"Puck got rufied."

"Really?" Brittany asked.

Santana nodded. "Probably GHB."

"Santana?" Rachel stared curiously at her friend "Why do you know so much about this?"

"Just drop it Rachel. Okay?"

"But-"

"It's been taken care of. Just… We're on Puck's side."

"We are?" Brittany asked sipping at her cocoa.

"Yeah." Santana affirmed.

"Do you think Quinn really could have drugged Noah?"

"She's mean." Brittany said, alternating between blowing on and sipping her hot drink.

"Bitch is crazy." Santana shrugged.

"I really don't think she's capable of something like that." Rachel disagreed.

"She cheated on her boyfriend with his _best friend_."

"I need to talk to Noah about this." Rachel muttered to herself.

"Tell Rainbow we got his back."

"Yeah," Brittany chimed in "we'll still be Rainbow's friends."

* * *

"Hey Noah?"

"Yeah, Squirt?" Puck looked across the table at his sister. She had the little crease between her eyebrows that meant she was frustrated with something.

"What's 10 minus 4?"

"That's a tough one, kid." Puck said, sliding around the table so he was next to her.

"I know." Dani said in frustration.

"How 'bout we try this?" He grabbed the orange, which was meant to be the 7 year old's snack.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"Relax, Dani, I'm not gonna steal it. I just wanna show you something."

"Fine." The little girl mumbled, settling back in her seat. "This better be good."

Puck smirked and shook his head; his sister could be such a brat sometimes. He set 10 segments of the orange in front of her. "Okay, so you've got 10, right?"

Dani counted the 10 pieces and nodded. "Yeah."

"So now take away 4 pieces."

Dani glared at him when he ate one of the 4 pieces she set aside. "Hey!"

"Sorry, kid. How many you got left?"

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Is that right?" Puck nodded and slid back to his own seat. "Thanks Noah." Dani beamed at him. "You're, like, the best big brother ever. Even if you did sneak my orange."

Puck grinned, he was an awesome big brother. He jumped when a hand touched his shoulder. "Ma."

"Mom!" Dani yelled, scrambling down from her chair and throwing herself at her mother's legs.

"Hi guys." Amelia Puckerman greeted, stroking her daughter's hair lovingly.

"Are you going to have dinner with us tonight?" Dani asked hopefully.

"Yeah, baby. I got off work early. How do you guys feel about pizza?"

"Yay!" Dani squealed "Pizza, Noah!"

"Yeah, kid, I heard."

"Finish your homework." Amelia said, putting her purse on the counter. "I'm just going to go change, then we'll order some food, okay?"

"Okay." Dani chirped. "Hey mom, guess what."

"What baby?"

"Noah teached me how to subtract."

"Taught." Puck corrected.

"Yeah, Noah taught me how to subtract."

"That's great, Dani."

"Mmhmm." The 7 year old said, already absorbed in her math again. Her little tongue poked out the side of her mouth as she concentrated on moving her orange slices around.

Puck watched his mom leave the room, before following her upstairs to her bedroom. "Ma?" He asked, knocking on her door.

"Come in, Noah."

He entered her room quietly. "Ma, I need to talk to you about something."

Amelia took one look at her son and sat down heavily on the edge of her bed. "Oh, Noah… What have you done?"


End file.
